Bonifas hosts new exhibit featuring U.P. artists from ArtPrize

ESCANABA — ArtPrize 8 will be wrapping up in just a few days in downstate Grand Rapids, but the featured U.P. artists aren’t quite done exhibiting their pieces.

The iconic art competition will end for the year this Sunday, sending all the artists back home, including the 51 U.P. artists that were featured at this years event. But their pieces won’t be removed from the public eye just yet.

After deinstallation on Sunday, the pieces will travel back up the U.P. to be reinstalled at the Bonifas Arts Center in Escanaba.

Starting October 15, the public can come check out those works at the exhibit entitled the U.P. Premiere.

“We are very proud of the representation that our artists have done for the U.P. down in a very competitive world and in a place where we hope to pull a lot of our tourists and our future visitors,” said Pasqua Warstler, the Art Director at the Bonifas Arts Center.

Five of the pieces that will be on display made the top 100 public vote list. They were chosen out of the nearly 1500 total pieces featured at the competition.

The exhibit will run though November 2.

And if you want a chance to meet some of the artists behind the work, the Bonifas will be hosting an artists reception on October 22 from 1:00 pm until 3:00 pm.