Ferris State University group bringing robust presence, distinctive creativity to ArtPrize 2025

September 17, 2025

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — 

ArtPrize 2025 kicks off this week, and the Ferris State University group is all around the newest
iteration of the celebrated public artwork occasion.

More than 50 Ferris State alumni, college, and college students are among the many 930 artists whose work will likely be remodeling downtown Grand Rapids and
surrounding areas right into a massively open multimedia gallery house from Sept. 18 to
Oct. 4.

This yr’s entrants are hoping to construct on the college’s robust file of success
within the competitors. Last yr, 5 winners of juried and public awards had been alumni
of Ferris State’s Kendall College of Art and Design, together with $125,000 Public Grand
Prize winner John Katerberg, a 2015 graduate with a Bachelor of Fine Arts diploma in
Painting.

Another group of Ferris State group members has been working behind the scenes
of ArtPrize 2025. Students Arian Bystry, Sydney Lingenfelter, Hayley Lingo, Liv Miller,
Flor Hannah Quinones, and Shalini Sunder make up the workforce of interns who’ve been
serving to convey the occasion to life since spring. 

Ferris State college students interning for ArtPrize.

The interns have been integral to the planning and preparation course of. Working alongside
ArtPrize workers, they’ve been studying firsthand what it takes to drag off each side
of the multifaceted public occasion, together with fundraising improvement, coordinating
venue and artist connections, planning auxiliary occasions, guaranteeing top quality visitor
experiences, offering advertising and marketing and communications help, and designing branded
graphics and different collateral. 

“Creativity and making are on the coronary heart of a lot of what we don’t simply at KCAD
however all through the University. It’s unbelievable to see this many Ferris group members
concerned in ArtPrize,” mentioned Stephen Halko, KCAD’s interim dean. “We put together our graduates
to form issues that form our world, and the one of many world’s largest and most
radically open artwork competitions isn’t any exception.”

Ferris State can even host an ArtPrize entry on its Grand Rapids campus. Two Eagles Marcus, a multidisciplinary artist identified for his work on the intersection of sunshine, reflection,
and immersion may have his piece “Kalopeiron” situated on Pearl St. simply outdoors the
school’s Woodbridge N. Ferris Building, offering most publicity to ArtPrize crowds.

“Kalopeiron” transforms an 8-foot by 20-foot transport container into an enormous hexagonal
kaleidoscope that invitations viewers to step inside and lose themselves in a novel sensory
expertise. The mirrored, LED-lit construction surrounds guests in a rhythmic discipline
of vibrant mild and sound, with coloration and sample reflecting endlessly throughout the
container’s mirrored ground, ceiling, and partitions.

“I’m excited to see how individuals interact with Kalopeiron as a result of it actually does unfold
in another way for everybody,” mentioned Michele Bosak, KCAD exhibitions director. “There are
limitless methods to expertise it, even in the event you go to greater than as soon as. It can really feel contemplative,
playful, and even cosmic — relying on how lengthy you keep and the way open you might be to being
remodeled.”

ArtPrize is organized via a group partnership between the City of Grand Rapids,
Downtown Grand Rapids Inc., and Ferris State University’s Kendall College of Art and
Design. Apart from exploring the entries and voting for his or her favorites, guests
to the 2025 competitors may have an opportunity to expertise particular occasions like a Mardi
Gras-themed parade, fireworks, artist workshops, concert events, stay performances, interactive
displays and extra.

Most entries will likely be obtainable to view beginning Thursday, September 18, and the official
ArtPrize 2025 kickoff celebration taking place in Rosa Parks Circle on Friday, September 19 beginning at
6:30 p.m.