We received a missive from Barista Exchange last week concerning ArtPrize, an upcoming international art contest taking place in Grand Rapids, MI, September 23rd - October 10th. The contest features a $250,000 grand prize, which will be voted on by the community that attends the contest, and additional prizes for the top 10 placing artists. It's a unique and groundbreaking attempt to open up the interaction between artists and their audiences, including how their work is shown. Each participant must secure their own viewing venue somewhere in the city of Grand Rapids -- after they've been accepted by ArtPrize, they need to connect with and secure their slot in one of the volunteer venue locations. One such venue is MadCap Coffee Company, the source of the email we received, who is looking for artists within the coffee community:
"madcap will be offering its space as an artists venue. we have an amazing site with lots of visibility. our first option is to offer this site to an artist within the coffee community, that can highlight and draw attention to the world of coffee. maybe you are a farmer that is also an artist, or an artist and barista that has traveled to origin and can showcase coffee in all of its attributes. if so, we would like to talk with you."