UPDATE: Restaurant owner says business suffered after banned ArtPrize artist posted drawings on her windows

GRAND RAPIDS, MI – ArtPrize says it's a wide-open, up-for-grabs, anything goes kind of art show where any space in downtown Grand Rapids can display any art it wants.

Yet even ArtPrize has its limits, as Artist SinGh has learned the hard way.

Twice booted out of ArtPrize, the stunt artist from Kalamazoo tried to get back in to this year's exhibition and $560,000 competition.

Related: What is ArtPrize? How to explain ArtPrize to your out-of-town family and friends

But ArtPrize has had enough of the artist who last year unfurled a 3-mile long painting and who installed a life-size effigy of Saddam Hussein in a cage the year before.

Flagrant rule breaking, in particular rules to protect public safety, led ArtPrize to ban SinGh permanently from the event, Kevin Buist, ArtPrize's director of exhibitions confirmed.

"We did prevent him from entering in this and future years," Buist said. "It's the last thing we want to do. It's something we never want to do again."

Related: After ArtPrize tosses its first artist, look back at 12 past controversies

Gurmej Singh, who uses Artist SinGh as his professional identity, has rallied back to install drawings in the windows of downtown Grand Rapids businesses during ArtPrize 2014. Though they aren't entered in the sixth annual exhibition, SinGh's drawings are on display for ArtPrize's opening day just the same.

SinGh, a native of India, said 100 drawings in his "Project Holy Cow" series can be found in the windows of area businesses such as Dodds Records on Division Avenue and Stella's Lounge on Commerce Avenue.

"I was disappointed to know that Kevin wouldn't let me in and would ban me from ArtPrize," SinGh said. "At the same time, my idea is to show art to the general public."

ArtPrize in turn has no objection to SinGh's effort to draw attention to human destruction of animals.

"We think that's totally cool," Buist said. "He apparently has rounded up support and got permission."

Permission last year was the problem.

Related: Controversial Artist SinGh, booted out of ArtPrize 2012 for Saddam Hussein effigy, is kicked out again

SinGh proposed a painting, 30 to 40 feet long and 10 to 12 feet tall, to be installed on a fence in the city-owned Sixth Street Bridge Park along the Grand River. The proposal was approved by the park's curator for ArtPrize and by city officials who sign off on all art installations in city-owned spaces.

SinGh, who prides himself on "testing the limits to express his passion through art," decided to expand his project into a 3-mile long canvas dubbed "The World's Largest Painting."

"The curator said no. At that point, he tried to go around her. The city also said no," Buist said. "No permission was given in any way from anyone."

The weekend before the opening of ArtPrize 2013, SinGh unfurled his project in downtown Grand Rapids in an attempt to win a Guinness World Record for the World's Largest Painting.

Months later, Guinness did confirm the record at 11,300 feet long for the painting. But the attempt at a record wasn't the issue for ArtPrize. The issue was thousands of feet of canvas across sidewalks and streets without city approval.

Related: Guinness World Record awarded to 2-mile long painting booted out of ArtPrize 2013

"It ran across roads, it ran across sidewalks. It was on public property and private property," Buist said. "It violated the rules, and it violated basic safety."

Grand Rapids City Police allowed him to unfurl it long enough to measure it. But SinGh did not remove it promptly as promised, according to Buist.

"City officials had to do extra work, on the city's dime, to roll it up and dispose of it."

SinGh charges that ArtPrize dismissed his entry last year as a stunt.

“They kicked me out of ArtPrize because it was a Guinness World Record and a gimmick," he said. "From my side, it's not a gimmick. If you think like that, then everything is a gimmick."

Not true, Buist said.

ArtPrize 2009 had artist Kurt Perschke's "RedBall Project" installed all over downtown.

ArtPrize 2010 saw British artist Luke Jerram install 20 colorfully painted pianos on street corners all over downtown.

Both artists had city approval for installing their work in public places.

"Luke Jerrum did a lot of work on that," Buist said. "We love the crazy ideas. It has nothing to do with that."

SinGh participated successfully in ArtPrize 2009 and 2011. But neither of his last two works made it as far as ArtPrize's official opening. Last year's "World's Longest Painting" was eliminated three days before ArtPrize 2013 opened.

His ArtPrize 2012 installation, "Captivity," at The B.O.B. was removed hours before the event began. A sign next to the installation told viewers the evolving installation would address bestiality, suicide and topics such as the "rape of Oprah," leading owner Greg Gilmore to pull the plug before ArtPrize opened.

SinGh later set fire to his project in protest.

SinGh, who believes he had verbal approval to change his ArtPrize 2013 project, said the problem might have been resolved if there were another party to appeal to.

"There should be someone you can go to and tell them what your grievances are," he said. "My idea was to bring something bigger and better and show people that we can do big things in Grand Rapids. We can do a world record."

ArtPrize's cautionary tale to all future artists is ArtPrize is open to all sorts of art anywhere downtown, so long as permission is obtained and the rules are followed.

"ArtPrize maintains the right to disqualify participants if they're harming other ArtPrize participants, the venue or the city," Buist said.

Jeffrey Kaczmarczyk covers arts and entertainment for MLive and The Grand Rapids Press. Email him at jkaczmarczyk@mlive.com or follow him on Twitter, Facebook or Google+.