Who profited from ArtPrize 2023?

On Monday, WZZM 13 ran a story about the economic impact of ArtPrize for West Michigan in 2023.

The story is based up a study conducted by Grand Valley State University, specifically the Seidman School of Business. The channel 13 story doesn’t ask questions of the study, only a summary of the findings. 

The 38-page report from GVSU states that the economic impact of ArtPrize in West Michigan for 2023 was $$54.7 million. Early on in the report it states: 

This report focuses on the economic impact (direct, indirect, and induced) ArtPrize provides to the Grand Rapids area. The economic contribution is the amount of economic activity that ArtPrize generates within a defined region. For the purpose of this report, the local region is defined as Kent County. 

However, it you look at the amount of direct spending that took place, the total was $40,252,700. The report breaks down the direct spending in five categories – with dollar amounts for each category:

• Meals – $16,735,760
• Retail – $3,971,684
• Lodging – $12,419,695
• Transportation – $5,257,680
• Art Spending – $1,867,881

While some of this information is useful and instructive, the report provides no breakdown of who the primary beneficiaries were of the $40,252,700 in direct spending. One question to be asked about this is, why did the GVSU report researchers and writers not talk about who benefited economically from the millions that were spent during the 2023 ArtPrize.

Of course the largest sector that benefited from ArtPrize 2023 was the restaurant industry, which would also include food trucks, with $16,735,760. This means that $16,735,760 was made by the owners of restaurants and food trucks. The employees do the bulk of the work, but it is reasonable that employees – those that wait tables, cooks, dishwashers, those who bus tables, people who do food prep, and those who work as bartenders – were not likely to have made more money during ArtPrize, except wait staff who work for tips. It is also reasonable to think that the wages of restaurant workers did not go up during ArtPrize, even if they were busier during the weeks that ArtPrize was operational in 2023. Who were the primary beneficiaries in this category? Restaurant and Food Truck owners.

The second largest sector in terms of direct spending during ArtPrize was Lodging, which would include hotels, motels, Airbnb and other more informal spaces being rented. With hotels and motels, it is also reasonable to think that the bulk of the $12,419,695 went to the owners. The employees of hotels and motels – people who work the front desk, people who take your luggage to your room, valets, those who clean the rooms, clean the linen and towels, those who do maintenance, and those who work in security – it is reasonable to think that these people did not get an increase in wages during ArtPrize 2023. Who were the primary beneficiaries in this category? Hotel and Motel owners. In addition, it is important to note that the DeVos family owns the following Hotels in downtown Grand Rapids: Hotel by Marriott, Amway Grand Plaza, Courtyard by Marriott, the Hyatt Place Grand Rapids, and the JW Marriott Grand Rapids. 

The third largest sector in terms of direct spending during ArtPrize was Transportation, logging in at $5,257,680. Now transportation is vague, but based on the surveys that were conducted, 89% of people traveled by car/personal vehicle to the 2023 ArtPrize. In this sense, the primary beneficiaries of the $5,257,680 of direct spending for transportation were gas stations and auto insurance companies, which means those who own these systems got the majority of the $5,257,680. The GVSU study also doesn’t include parking costs in transportation, but since the paid parking is either owned by the City of Grand Rapids or private parking companies like Ellis Parking, the owners of parking also were winners.

The fourth largest sector in terms of direct spending during ArtPrize was Retail, which logged in at $3,971,684 of direct spending. This means that people who were attending ArtPrize 2023, spent $3,971,684 at retail stores in the downtown and nearby neighborhoods of Grand Rapids. Like other sectors there are employees that work in the retail business, but it is reasonable to assume that the owners of retail got the bulk of the $3,971,684. 

The last sector in terms of direct spending during ArtPrize was Art Spending, logging in at $1,867,881 of direct spending. Again, the report does not provide details about where the art was bought, whether it was from the Art Museum, various galleries in the city or directly from artists. However, I do think it is reasonable to say that the majority of the $1,867,881 in direct spending for art went to the artists themselves. 

In summary, while it is true that the total economic impact from ArtPrize was $$54.7 million, with $40,252,700 in direct spending, the primary beneficiaries of these millions were business owners – hotels, restaurants, retail stores and parking lot owners. In other words, it seems to me that the primary beneficiaries of ArtPrize 2023 were primarily those who are already economically well off, while most working class people did not benefit from the money spent. It seems that words of Sam Cummings, a member of the GR Power Structure, were true when he said them in 2010: “Our long-term goal is really to import capital – intellectual capital, and ultimately real capital. And this (ArtPrize) is certainly an extraordinary tool.”