Do you have an eye for art?
Here's your chance to get an eye full as online public voting began Thursday for the 2018 MI Great Artist online competition. Artists from Oakland, Genesee, Lapeer, Livingston, Macomb, St. Clair, Shiawassee, and Wayne counties more than 200 of them entered the competition in hopes their work catches the attention of the voting public. The group will be whittled down to the top 30 semi-finalists and then the final five artists, who will share of a prize package worth more than $16,000.
New to the contest this year is a "People's Choice" winner, which rewards the artist who receives the most votes with a $750 cash prize and automatic entry as a finalist. The ultimate winner receives $1,500 cash among other prizes. Four runners-up will each receive $375 cash and other prizes.
"We have a wealth of incredibly talented artists who display their skill, passion and creativity," Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson said. "I encourage everyone to vote for their favorites."
Individuals may vote at www.MIGreatArtist.com once a day. You may vote for as many artists as you like each day but only once every 24 hours for an individual artist. Voting ends at noon Sept. 5. To ensure that voting is being done by individuals and not a machine, voters are required to register. Thirty semi-finalists will ultimately be chosen and reviewed by the judges. Five finalists will be chosen Sept. 18 and the winner announced Oct. 23 during a reception at Park West Gallery in Southfield.
Patterson and Park West Gallery founder and CEO Albert Scaglione launched the contest in 2012 as a quality of life initiative to identify and support up-and-coming artists. The judges are Scaglione; Dominic Pangborn, founder of Pangborn Design Collection and a former professor at the College of Creative Studies; Don Tocco, an artist whose work includes award-winning photography, paintings and portrait sculptures of famous global leaders; Phil Gilchrist, director of the Anton Art Center in Mt. Clemens; and Kristie Everett Zamora, arts and culture coordinator for Oakland County's Department of Economic Development & Community Affairs.
MI Great Artist partners include Oakland County, Park West Gallery, AdvantageOakland.com, and Oakland County Prosper® magazine.
Published: Fri, Aug 24, 2018
