ArtPrize 2012 runners-up 22 Gallery: ArtPrize 2012 runners-up

"Elephants" comes two years after Chris LaPorte won the ArtPrize 2010 first prize for his large-scale drawing, "Cavalry, American Officers, 1921." LaPorte returned to ArtPrize 2012 with an even bigger drawing, "City Band," becoming one of three Top 10 finalists whose works were on display at the Grand Rapids Art Museum during ArtPrize 2012.

Mia Tavonatti's stained-glass mosaic, "Crucifixion," was the first-prize winner of ArtPrize 2011. Ran Ortner's oil painting "Open Water no. 24" was the top pick in 2009 for the inaugural ArtPrize. The public vote winners in the competition's first three years each received $250,000.

"Song of Lift," an installation involving mechanical birds, lights and a soundtrack of Henryk Gorecki's "Symphony of Sorrowful Songs Symphony No. 3," captivated audiences since its debut performance at UICA's fall gala, "The Odd Ball," on Sept. 18, which also christened the space for UICA's future blackbox theater.

“Rebirth of Spring,” a realistic painting of a forest scene, was entered by Hoendervanger, an artist based in Detroit, but a former West Michigan resident and artist for The Grand Rapids Press. The 8-foot wide, 6-foot high oil painting is in the Amway Grand Plaza Hotel.

Each artist in the Top 10 goes home a prize winner. The seven artists in fourth through 10th place each receives a $5,000 cash award.

Update: ArtPrize 2012: See how the rest of the Top 10 fared; 4th through 10th place rankings revealed



Here are the remaining seven in the ArtPrize 2012 Top 10, alphabetically by artist's last name:



• "Return to Eden" by Sandra Bryant at Grand Rapids Public Museum

• "Lights in the Night" by Mark Carpenter and Dan Johnson at The B.O.B.

• "The Chase" by Dennis Harris and Artistry of Wildlife at Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum

• "Life in Wood" by Dan Heffron at The B.O.B.

• "City Band" by Chris LaPorte at Grand Rapids Art Museum

• "Stick-to-it-ive-ness: Unwavering pertinacity; perseverance" by Richard Morse in Grand River

• "Origami" by Kumi Yamashita at Grand Rapids Art Museum