Miami University professor of Studio Art Rob Robbins is exhibiting his large-scale painting Neither Here Nor There (Field / Environment) at ArtPrize 2026, the international art competition and cultural festival that transforms downtown Grand Rapids, Michigan, into a citywide gallery each fall.

Robbins' panoramic triptych, which spans 15 feet, is on view at ArtRat Gallery through Oct. 3. The work is among more than 1,000 entries included in this year's ArtPrize.

Held annually in Grand Rapids, ArtPrize brings work by artists from around the world into galleries, businesses, museums, and public spaces throughout the city. More than 900,000 visitors attend the event each year, giving participating artists an unusually large public audience. The 2026 competition will distribute $600,000 in grants and prizes, with awards determined through both public voting and a juried process.

Robbins also received a $2,000 ArtPrize Seed Grant to support his participation in this year's event. Seed Grants provide funding to artists and venues to help bring projects to ArtPrize.

As part of the exhibition, Robbins will present an artist talk, "Double Back Around," at ArtRat Gallery on Sept. 25. The talk will offer an opportunity to hear more about his work and artistic practice during ArtPrize.

Neither Here Nor There is part of Robbins' ongoing exploration of densely layered landscapes. His paintings use foliage, color, pattern, and repeated layers to create environments that examine the relationship between viewers and the natural world.

"The work has been evolving over the last few years and has a lot of momentum right now," Robbins said. "The canvases have gotten larger and more immersive, with the format becoming as much a part of the work as the painting itself. As I see more generative AI, I place more importance on the physical making of a painting, leaving brushstrokes, washes, and changes visible."

Robbins' recent work also connects his studio practice with broader conversations about ecology and environmental awareness. In July, he presented "Double Back Around: Painting Ecologies of Perception in the Anthropocene" at the Eco-Poetics and Environmental Artivism conference in London.

"At the same time, the connection to ecology and environmental awareness is bringing the work into conversations with new audiences," Robbins said. "The London conference was especially exciting because I met creative people from different disciplines and around the world who are thinking about many of the same environmental questions."

The ArtPrize exhibition comes amid a busy period in Robbins' studio practice and growing outside attention for his work. Recent coverage has included an ArtPrize video feature from ArtRat Gallery, a feature from Art Dose Weekly, and a Matter News story examining his approach to landscape painting.

Robbins is also creating a large, site-specific, multi-panel painting for Just Around the Next Bend, a solo exhibition opening at Covenant College in January. The new work is being created specifically for the gallery space, and Robbins has been documenting the painting's development through work-in-progress images on social media.

His upcoming projects also include a solo exhibition at the Cleveland Botanical Garden in fall 2027. In addition, EcoTheo Review has accepted a folio of Robbins' paintings for its upcoming Autumn issue, with one of his works selected for the cover.

These exhibitions, publications, and conference presentation reflect the continued development of Robbins' studio practice and his exploration of painting, perception, and the environment.

ArtPrize 2026 runs Sept. 18 through Oct. 3 throughout Grand Rapids, with Neither Here Nor There (Field / Environment) on view at ArtRat Gallery, 46 Division Ave. S.