What happens when you bring together 400,000 visitors and 1,500 artists to transform a city for 19 days? Just ask Christian Gaines, the Executive Director of ArtPrize, a radically open, independently organized international art competition based in Grand Rapids Michigan.

ArtPrize was founded in 2009 and quickly grew to be the most widely attended public art event in the world. With a fresh business model that relies heavily on corporate sponsorship, ArtPrize serves audiences and artists alike, and awards more than $500,000 in prizes annually.

Recently, Christian sat down with AMT Lab Chief Editor Patrick Zakem to talk about the necessity of open systems, the challenges of starting a large organization with a startup ethos, and Artprize’s innovative mobile application. Listen to their conversation below.