GRAND RAPIDS –

ArtPrize 2011's

$250,000 grand prize goes to an artist who came within a

whisker of winning it last year

.

UPDATE: ArtPrize 2011 winner Mia Tavonatti's gets bittersweet victory hours after mother's death (photos, video)

Mia Tavonatti, who took second place in ArtPrize 2010, won the popular vote for her stained-glass mosaic "Crucifixion," announced this evening in DeVos Performance Hall.

The second-place award goes to an artist who has been there before. Tracy Van Duinen's mixed-media mural "The Metaphorest Project" was awarded the $100,000 prize two years after the Chicago artist won the same award for his bricolage mural "Imagine That!" in the inaugural ArtPrize.

Newcomer Lynda Cole, of Ann Arbor, was awarded the $50,000 third prize for her kinetic sculpture, "Rain," in the $450,000 popular-vote competition created by social entrepreneur Rick DeVos.

ArtPrize 2011 winner: Crucifixion by Mia Tavonatti 5 Gallery: ArtPrize 2011 winner: Crucifixion by Mia Tavonatti

All three top winners have Michigan ties. Tavonatti is a native of Iron Mountain in the Upper Peninsula and Van Duinen is from Grand Rapids.

The rest of the Top 10 received a $7,000 cash award. Here they are listed in alphabetical order.

• Laura Alexander, of Columbus, Ohio, “The Tempest II,” in Grand Rapids Art Museum

• Paul Baliker, of Palm Coast, Fla., “Ocean Exodus,” at The B.O.B.

• Ritch Branstrom, of Rapid River, Mich., “Rusty: A sense of direction/self portrait,” at Grand Rapids Public Museum

• Sunti Pichetchaiyakul, of Thailand and Montana, “President Gerald Ford Visits ArtPrize,” at Barnes & Thornburg

• Bill Secunda, of Butler, Pa., “Mantis Dreaming,” at The B.O.B.

• Robert Shangle, of Grand Rapids, “Under Construction,” at The B.O.B.

• Llew “Doc” Tilma, of Wayland, “Grizzlies on the Ford,” at Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum

RELATED: See how Gonzo did on his ArtPrize 2011 predictions

A total of 383,106 votes were cast by 33,858 activated voters in two rounds of voting in the contest that opened Sept. 21.

In the first round, viewers registered and activated to participate could vote until Sept. 29 for any entry in ArtPrize 2011. In the second round, which ended Wednesday, viewers could cast just one vote for one of the Top 10 finalists.

All 1,582 works of art, in 163 locations downtown plus Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park, remain on display through Sunday, the final day of the exhibition.

E-mail Jeffrey Kaczmarczyk: jkaczmarczyk@grpress.com and follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/ArtsWriter