Jay Constantine and his wife Patricia are pro­fes­sors at Ferris’ Kendall College of Art and Design and just two of the artists com­pet­ing in ArtPrize.

“There is a real ben­e­fit to be able to show your work,” said Particia.

“There are quite a few stu­dents and fac­ulty in the com­pe­ti­tion,” said Sarah Joseph, direc­tor of exhi­bi­tions at KCAD. “We’re work­ing to put a com­plete list together,” she said.

Other fac­ulty entrants from Kendall include Deborah Rockman, Molly Alicki Corriveau and Darlene Kaczmarczyk.

ArtPrize, an art com­pe­ti­tion hosted through­out down­town Grand Rapids start­ing today and con­tin­u­ing through Oct. 10, is the prod­uct of Rick DeVos. Heir to Amway, the 27-year-old DeVos announced his plans for ArtPrize in April.

“It’s time to reboot the con­ver­sa­tion between artists and the pub­lic,” said DeVos in an April press release. “ArtPrize will be a cel­e­bra­tion of art, design, and inno­va­tion that will bring artists and the pub­lic together like never before,” said DeVos.

With pieces from 1,262 artists from 41 states and 15 coun­tries, ArtPrize could boast as much as a $250,000 prize to the win­ning artist. A total of $449,000 in cash prizes is expected to be awarded to win­ners selected by indi­vid­u­als pre-registered on the ArtPrize Web site, art​prize​.org. Registration must be com­pleted in per­son and vot­ers must be at least 16 years or older and have a valid photo ID.

The nearly half-million dol­lars in awards to the top 10 artists will be funded by The Dick & Betsy DeVos Family Foundation.

For more infor­ma­tion or to learn more about some of the entries and where they are on dis­play, visit art​prize​.org.