Sep 28, 2009

Grand Rapids gallery owners thrilled by attention from ArtPrizeBy Paul L. NewbyMLive.com

The surge of customers caught Carol Collins by surprise last Sunday.

“I just came in to move things around before ArtPrize started,” said Collins whose gallery showcases the work of her painter husband Paul Collins.She hadn’t expected so many art lovers would descend on downtown before the competition was launched the following Wednesday evening.

But customers kept coming to the door. “I was busy all day long,” she said. “I was so tired.”

It was an encouraging sign about the financial side of ArtPrize.

When the $499,000 competition was announced, gallery owners all over town had to wonder whether an intense focus on 1,262 temporary exhibits at 159 venues would detract from their shops.

No way, gallery owners assured me when I checked in with them. They are delighted with the buzz.

“The whole city is talking about art,” marveled Scott LaFontsee who has operated LaFontsee Galleries with his wife Linda for 20 years.

At Collins gallery, the shop in McKay Tower on Monroe Center stayed packed all week. “The madness started Sunday and hasn’t tapered off,” Carol Collins said.

Sales shot up 25 percent from normal, she estimated, with prints of Collins’ work the best sellers at $30 to $10,000 apiece.

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