GRAND RAPIDS, Mich.  Dozens of kayakers paddled down the Grand River here on Sunday to get a close look at “Nessie on the Grand,” a stylized foam version of the Loch Ness Monster floating near the shore. A few blocks east, outside the Grand Rapids Children’s Museum, groups of excited youngsters posed for their parents’ cameras against a colorful mosaic, gazing at their reflections in bits of mirrored tile. And inside the nearby Urban Institute for Contemporary Arts, adults and children fired questions at a chatty New Yorker named Jason Hackenwerth as he twisted balloons into the components of a giant caterpillar-shaped sculpture.

As popular as these attractions were, they and many others spread around Grand Rapids were more than just crowd-pleasing curiosities  though they had to be that, too. The three are among 10 finalists in a new art competition here that is being judged by members of the public, and that has drawn more than 1,000 entrants with its top prize of $250,000.

The organizers of this first-ever event, called the ArtPrize, describe the sum as “the world’s largest art prize,” and the competition  open to anyone over 18 and to be decided by the votes of tens of thousands of visitors  as among the world’s most democratic.

The winner of the election  balloting concluded on Wednesday  is to be announced on Thursday night. In addition to the top payout, each of the nine runners-up will receive at least $7,000, from a total pool of $449,000.