ArtPrize Winner’s Glass Masterpiece Trapped Inside Ford Museum During Shutdown

If you’ve been following ArtPrize this year, you probably already know the winning piece. It’s a stunning 10-by-4-foot woven glass tapestry called Arras by artist Mark Lewanski.

What you might not know is that it’s currently… locked inside the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum.

Because of the ongoing government shutdown, the Ford Museum (like other federally operated sites) has closed its doors until further notice. Unfortunately for Lewanski, that means his one-of-a-kind piece is trapped behind those locked doors.

“We’re all waiting to see, like everyone, what’s going to happen with the government shut down and hopefully it won’t be a very long situation,” Lewanski told WOOD TV. “I would like to get at the piece and get it moved somewhere … but all of that’s on hold until we know what’s happening with the government.”

Arras isn’t just another glass sculpture. It’s a woven glass tapestry (the largest of its kind) made from thousands of melted glass strips. The final piece weighs more than 400 pounds and took Lewanski and his team six months to create, plus three full days just to install inside the museum.

Getting it in was tough. Getting it out right now? Impossible.

On the door of the museum, a sign simply reads: “We’re sorry. Due to the lapse in federal appropriations the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum is currently closed.”

The timing couldn’t have been worse. Days after being named the winner of ArtPrize 2025, Lewanski should be celebrating his incredible achievement, not waiting outside a locked building hoping for updates from Washington.

Still, he’s staying optimistic. With his prize money, he plans to expand his studio to more than double its current size, creating space for even more large-scale, intricate works like Arras.

So while we can’t see his masterpiece in person just yet, maybe once the museum doors finally reopen, the community can gather again, not just to admire the woven beauty of Arras, but to celebrate the perseverance and creativity that make ArtPrize what it is.