GRAND RAPIDS, Michigan. — We are a week into ArtPrize in Grand Rapids, and you’ve probably seen the billboards describing GR as a cool city with hot art. Business, however, is also gaining steam downtown, making a rebound from the COVID-19 pandemic, as local business owners can attest.
“Every single business downtown would not make it and thrive without this event,” said Alex Benda, co-owner of Courage and Soar.
Benda opened his shop at the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic and says this festival helped his business bounce back, inspiring the downtown district to take advantage of the extra foot traffic.
“Could we make $5,000 more during ArtPrize for three weeks if we did some events together?” Benda said. “That’s a real economic number that we needed at that point to pay rent.”
Now, four years later, his store makes well over that amount, and surrounding businesses have started meeting once a month to create more buzz around downtown beyond just ArtPrize.
“We now have scarecrow competitions and world of winter activations,” Benda said. “We're starting to get even more people during the off-season coming down.”
With more eyes on Grand Rapids, the attention extends well beyond the first few weeks of fall.
ArtPrize Executive Director Catlin Whitington tells me that 60 percent of ArtPrize-goers are not from West Michigan, making their repeat visits a significant boost to the city’s economy year-round.
"Last year, we brought 70 million dollars in the local economy, so that goes directly to businesses," Whitington said.
