21c Museum Hotels is thrilled to announce that Durham-based artist Stacey Kirby was the winner of the $200,000 Grand Jury Prize at ArtPrize 2016 for her interactive performance and installation, The Bureau of Personal Belonging.
Artist Stacey Kirby took home a $5,000 grant awarded at the first ArtPrize Pitch Night event of 2016, held earlier this year at 21c Museum Hotel in Durham, North Carolina, for The Bureau. A panel of art experts chose this project over the work of four other artists — each given five minutes and five slides to sell their idea of an ambitious installation for ArtPrize Eight in Grand Rapids.
The Bureau of Personal Belonging is an installation comprised of three ongoing works where visitors offer written and verbal responses as they interact with the artist and other performers within a meticulously recreated 60’s era bureaucratic office space. Visitors are taken through a process to determine if they are indeed valid members of our community. The work points to the often absurd way bureaucracies define identity — particularly sexual and gender identity — and encourages viewers to contact Michigan lawmakers regarding certain pieces of legislation.
About ArtPrize
ArtPrize is an international art competition, open to any artist and decided by public vote. It invites artists to try out new ideas on a large and diverse population of people. It seeks to broaden the critical dialogue around contemporary art by awarding the world’s largest art prize. Two $200,000 awards are decided by public vote and expert jury, and an additional $100,000 in prizes is awarded to the top entries in each category. Registered artists and venues connect online at artprize.org and agree to present the artwork for public display during the 19-day event. The public votes using mobile devices and the web to distribute their awards, while a group of international art experts determines the winners of the juried awards. ArtPrize Eight will include 1,453 entries representing 44 countries and 40 U.S. states and territories. ArtPrize annually attracts more than 400,000 active participants. Since its inception, individuals of all backgrounds have cast more than 2.8 million votes for public art.
ArtPrize is made possible in part through the generous support of many organizations. The Corporate Leadership sponsors include Amway, DTE Energy Foundation, Founders Brewing Company, Kendall College of Art and Design of Ferris State University, Meijer, Michigan Economic Development Corporation, PNC Bank, Switch, West Michigan Honda Dealers, and X-Rite Pantone. Premier sponsors include Consumers Energy; CWD Real Estate Investment; Edward Jones; Haworth; Herman Miller Cares; ITC, Your Energy Superhighway; Michigan Lottery; Steelcase; and Wolverine Worldwide.
Leading Foundation Supporters include The Richard and Helen DeVos Foundation, the Daniel and Pamella DeVos Foundation, the Douglas and Maria DeVos Foundation, CDV5 Foundation, the Frey Foundation, the Peter C. and Emajean Cook Foundation, The Wege Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs.
CWD Real Estate Investment is the Official Real Estate Provider. Honda is the Official Vehicle of ArtPrize. MLive Media Group is the Official Provider of the ArtPrize Event Guide. The Rapid is the Public Transportation Partner. WOOD TV8 is the Official Broadcast Media Partner of ArtPrize.
The Dick & Betsy DeVos Family Foundation is the Founding Sponsor of ArtPrize.
