Rick DeVos today announced ArtPrize, an annual art competition that will be judged by the public and will pay the winning entry $250,000, the largest prize of any competition in the world.   The first annual competition will be staged from September 23 to October 10, 2009, in Grand Rapids, Michigan.  DeVos expects artists in every medium from around the world to be lured to Grand Rapids to take over the city for 16 days.  Winners in the competition will be determined by online voting.  

ArtPrize's mission is "to reboot the conversation between artists and audiences on a grand scale."  Its mission statement explains:

We are living in a time of great change. New ideas, fresh inspiration will move us forward.

There are enough art competitions where the winners are decided by a jury of experts. That's not the competition we are creating. We're looking for a giant conversation to happen between artists and the public. That is why we developed a radically open framework for this event, which gives power to everyone's opinion.

When everyone's opinion counts, everyone is included in the conversation.

In addition to the first prize of $250,000. ArtPrize will award a second prize of $100,000, along with $50,000 for third place and $7,000 for fourth through 10th places.

For information about ArtPrize, go to www.artprize.org.