ArtPrize Exhibits At Gerald R Ford Museum Relocated Due To Government Shutdown

Grand Rapids' massive art city-wide exhibit is in its second half, and the competition has never been steeper. Now that the venues span across five different areas of the city, visitors have more places to go than ever to view all that ArtPrize has to offer.

However, one of the largest venues in the West District region is closing down for the foreseeable future. With ArtPrize wrapping up by the end of the week, the 38 exhibits housed inside the building have been forced to relocate to a new venue in a different part of Grand Rapids or risk being unviewable in person for the remainder of the event.

Presidential Museum ➡️ The Morton

Wednesday marked the first day of the US government shutdown after Republicans and Democrats failed to pass a funding proposal to keep the government funded, resulting in the government running out of money. As a result, all buildings that require staffing, such as museums, will remain closed until funding is approved.

This means that the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum will be closed to the public, which will result in all ArtPrize exhibits inside being inaccessible to the public. All exhibits outside the museum will remain there.

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As a result, ArtPrize announced on Facebook that artists were given the option to keep their exhibits at the venue or have them relocated to The Morton. The Morton is an apartment complex located off Fountain Street and Monroe Center Street. To see which exhibits are switching locations, refer to the ArtPrize webapp.

Voting ends Thursday afternoon, and the winner of ArtPrize will be announced Friday evening.