Artist 7th in contest in Mich.
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Metal artist Bill Secunda of Butler captured prize money again this year in the ArtPrize competition.
For his "Dancing with Lions," he won $7,000, the same amount of money he won last year, though it was for seventh place instead of the fifth place he had taken home previously. Fourth through 10th place awards are each $7,000.
The $250,000 first place prize — the world's largest art prize — was awarded to Grand Rapids artist Chris LaPorte for his massive pencil drawing "Cavalry, American Officers, 1921."
ArtPrize, which has no formal jury, curator or judge, asks the public to vote and decide the winners using the Internet and mobile devices.
ArtPrize 2010 began Sept. 22 with 1,713 artists displaying their works at 192 venues in a three-square-mile district in Grand Rapids. In this second year of the contest, artists from 21 countries and 44 states competed for prize monies totaling $449,000.
Nearly 45,000 members of the public from 36 states and more than a dozen foreign countries registered to vote. During the 15 days of competition, 465,538 votes were cast, including 16,905 votes in the final round.
Secunda won prize money last year with his life-size sculpture "Moose," made from nails.
