ArtPrize 2014: What’s Going On October 9

This is the last day to vote for ArtPrize 2014.

Today (Thursday, Oct. 9) is the 16th day of ArtPrize's 19-day run, with 1,825 artists represented by 1,536 entries at 174 venues in downtown Grand Rapids and Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park.

The ArtPrize 2014finalists for public voting and juried honors are in, and the top 20 in four categories on both lists get narrowed down through 11:59 p.m. tonight.

The public voting determines a $200,000 grand prize winner, with another $200,000 grand prize selected from the jurors' shortlists. There is $560,000 in prize money being awarded for the sixth annual ArtPrize, with four $20,000 category awards being awarded in both public and juried competitions.

There were 352,732 votes cast in the first round of public voting, according to ArtPrize's tabulation. About another 30,000 votes has been cast in second-round voting through Wednesday.

Public voting is from 3 p.m. to 11:59 p.m. today.

Today's Big Event

Tonight's the WOOD-TV 8 Talsma Furniture Concert Series at Rosa Park Circle. It's gonna be a K'zoo Night doubleheader.

From 5 p.m. to 6:20 p.m., Kalamazoo's The Mainstays, formerly known as Funktion, perform.

From 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., Kalamazoo native and singer-songwriter Matt Giraud, performs. He finished fifth in Fox's "American Idol" eighth season in 2008-2009, has been performing professionally since and now lives in Nashville.

Today's Thing to Do

There are two artistically-focused discussions tonight to take part in.

Grand Valley State University philosophy professors David Vessey, Wesley Cray, Kelly Parker and Jeffrey Byrnes each focus on an ArtPrize entry of their choosing in a discussion titled "Aesthetics & ArtPrize." The talk is from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at Richard M. DeVos Center Room 401C at 401 West Fulton Street on GVSU's downtown Grand Rapids Pew Campus.

The West Michigan chapter of the American Chemical Society hosts a discussion about art conservation, restoration and authentication. The talk is from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. in Loosemore Auditorium on the first floor of GVSU's Richard M. DeVos Center.

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