GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. -- After a soggy start, the sunny and comfortable weather at ArtPrize 2026 over the past week resulted in steady crowds of visitors checking out the more than 1,000 works of art in downtown Grand Rapids.
Local photographer Steve Katerberg snapped several photos of the art entries at some of the 159 venues. They are attached to this article.
The world's largest international art competition kicked off on Sept. 18, but the weather turned damp and chilly for the first weekend of the 17-year event, which is running 17 days this year. After a week of great weather, forecasters say it will be rainy at times late this week before the sunshine returns this weekend. The timing will be good, because the public voting runs through Friday, Oct. 2.
The grand finale will take place on Saturday, Oct. 3, from 6:30 to 10:00 p.m. at the Acrisure Amphitheater. The closing ceremony will double as an official Guinness World Record attempt for the largest live fashion show attendance in history. The evening will feature a runway showcase by designer RC Caylan Atelier, accompanied live by a combined performance from the Grand Rapids Symphony and Opera Grand Rapids, culminating in a synchronized drone display over the river.
This year's prize pool is more than $450,000. It will be split evenly between the public vote winners and those selected as the top artists by a juried panel of art experts. The dual Grand Prizes will see the winners of the Public Vote and the Juried Panel selection each taking home $100,000.
An extra $60,000 will be distributed across public category awards, matched by another $60,000 for juried categories.The grand prize winner will receive a trophy carved entirely from moldavite—a rare meteorite glass. Also, in a first for the competition, the winning artwork will be digitized and launched directly into earth's orbit.
The winner of the ArtPrize 2026 Public Vote Grand Prize will have their art entry's concept travel into space through a partnership with California-based aerospace startup Reflect Orbital. The winning artwork will be digitized and laser-engraved onto a physical plaque mounted to the exterior of the Earendil-1 satellite, which is scheduled to launch into Low Earth Orbit in 2027, where it will circle the globe at 18,000 miles per hour Reflect Orbital.
This orbital initiative pays homage to Grand Rapids native and Apollo 1 astronaut Roger B. Chaffee, bridging local space history with the city's legacy of artistic firsts. Back on the ground, the winning artist will also take home a physical trophy carved from moldavite, a rare, olive-green cosmic glass formed by a ancient meteorite impact, sourced in collaboration with West Michigan’s Rockhound Rock Shop.
ArtPrize was launched in 2009 by local entrepreneur Rick DeVos. The original event drew 1,262 artists and a crowd of 200,000 visitors Brooklyn-based painter Ran Ortner won the $250,000 top prize with his entry, Open Water No. 24 - a 19-foot-wide, oil canvas of ocean waves displayed at the Old Federal Building.
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Photo: All entries photographed by Steve Katerberg.
1 of 14 2 of 14 3 of 14 4 of 14 5 of 14 6 of 14 7 of 14 8 of 14 9 of 14 10 of 14 11 of 14 12 of 14 13 of 14 14 of 14 Photo: All entries photographed by Steve Katerberg.