ArtPrize is expanding!

A local nonprofit called ArtPrize Dallas was created to bring the art competition to Texas. They have a three-year agreement to exclusive rights to hold ArtPrize in Texas.

The first ArtPrize in Dallas is will be held in April of 2016. It will span 19 days and will feature art spread over three square miles in downtown Dallas, like the original event in Grand Rapids. The first ArtPrize Dallas will give out up to $500,000 in cash prizes.

ArtPrize, which is the world’s largest art competition, has been held in Grand Rapids since 2009. In the six years since it started, ArtPrize has doled out a total of $3.1 million in cash prizes. In 2014, ArtPrize featured 1,537 entries at 174 venues and gave out $560,000 in cash prizes. Additionally, ArtPrize said, the event attracts about 400,000 visitors each year.

A Thursday press release from ArtPrize said that the Dallas event is expected to draw thousands of visitors. The organizers from Dallas will work with a team from Grand Rapids to learn the best way to execute the southern version of the competition.

Ariel Saldivar, who was a juror for this year’s ArtPrize, will be the executive director of ArtPrize Dallas.

The seventh annual ArtPrize in Grand Rapids will take place Sept. 23 to Oct. 11, 2015.

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