GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — ArtPrize visitors spent more in 2023 than they did the year prior, a study found.
More than 714,000 visitors came to ArtPrize in 2023, the Grand Valley State University economic impact study found. While that’s down from the 753,000 visitors that came for the event in 2022, the 18-day event had a greater economic impact.
The study found ArtPrize had an economic impact of around $54.7 million, up from the $35.6 million in 2022, Christian Glupker, an economics professor at GVSU and the primary researcher in the study, told News 8. The dollars supported 434 jobs, the study says.
That economic impact came from the spending of primary visitors — people who game to Grand Rapids specifically for ArtPrize — and ArtPrize operational spending. The total does not account for visitors who were already in Grand Rapids for a different reason and ended up spending more because of ArtPrize.
Glupker said primary visitor spending was the driving force behind the increase in economic impact compared to last year.
“Even when adjusted for inflation, the visitors were spending more than they did the previous year,” he said.
Along with inflation, slightly longer stays could also be a factor. Nonlocal visitors spent an average of 1.76 days at ArtPrize, up from 1.67 days in 2022. But most of that growth came from visitors simply spending more, Glupker said.
“We saw visitor spending was greatly increased,” ArtPrize Executive Director Catlin Whitington said. “I think that really lends itself and really helps to highlight the experience that people were having in Grand Rapids and the engagement that the attendees were having in our community here.”
Whitington, coming off his first year as the executive director of ArtPrize, said seeing the growth in the economic impact was encouraging.
“During the event, we really saw that there was a lot of activity downtown,” he said. “It was a really vibrant downtown streetscape and scene down here and it’s really good to see that that translates into really meaningful economic impact as we go into a planning for 2024.”
He said downtown businesses saw an “economic windfall,” and his team worked closely with venues to draw in and engage more visitors.
That’s true for Oh, Hello Co. Paper & Gifts at 40 Monroe Center and its next-door sister store, Courage and Soar. Co-owner Alex Benda said ArtPrize is “crucial” for the two businesses, which both have products from dozens of local artists year-round. The stores are able to host community events throughout the year with funds made during ArtPrize.
“That foot traffic translates directly into sales for the store,” he said. “Without having ArtPrize every year, our store wouldn’t be able to do all the things it does throughout the year, let alone employ the people we employ.”
Oh, Hello saw thousands of customers during this past ArtPrize, sometimes having lines out the door.
“We weren’t empty the entire time of ArtPrize,” Benda said. “We always had someone in here from day one to the very last day.”
This year, there was an effort to bring people downtown throughout the entirety of ArtPrize, rather than just near the end, Benda said. He also said with Whitington as the new director, there was more coordination to help venues get involved.
“It’s a new downtown,” he said. “Just downtown within a block of here, there’s 30 new business owners in the last two years. … There’s a lot of coordination happening that wasn’t happening before that energy (from new business owners) or that turnover happened.”
Oh, Hello and its sister store also hosted more artists this year compared to previous ArtPrize events, and one of their artists was a finalist.
“Just overall a fantastic year for ArtPrize,” Benda said. “I think the best one we’ve experienced.”
This is the second year Glupker’s team has done the study. His student research team surveyed visitors during ArtPrize, talking to 600 people in total, above their target number. They found that 53% of the visitors were from outside of Kent County, down slightly from 56% in 2022. Those outside of Kent County came from all over the state of Michigan and as far away as California, Texas and Mexico. The average ArtPrize visitor age was 47, and 72% of visitors were female.
Along with the $54.7 million economic impact, it also brought in around $215,000 in Kent County tax revenue from nonlocal visitors. Glupker also noted that 74% of visitors said they were very or somewhat likely to visit Grand Rapids again.
“ArtPrize does leave impact on its visitors to the area,” he said. “Whatever they may spend on a return visit, that’s not captured in this impact study. But that visit is the catalyst.”
This year’s ArtPrize is set to take place from Sept. 13 to Sept. 28. Venue registration will be opening soon, Whitington said.
“We are continuing to focus on a really fun experience and quality art, numbers of artists, numbers of venues, more participation and really thinking about how we keep people engaged throughout the many days of ArtPrize,” he said.