Entering Art Competitions

5 Reasons to Enter Art Competitions

I was honored to judge the 2016 National Juried Photo Encaustic Exhibition that was exhibited at Sage Gallery in Portland, Oregon. And it got me thinking about competitions.

In the past, I’ve been part of many, many art competitions. I’ve run them, judged them, managed them, and submitted to them, and this has given me some great insight into their value.

Like anything else you’re going to find some people who love submitting work and some who think they are a scam.

Most of us create work to be seen and admired and what better way to showcase your art if not by being part of an exhibition. But that is so much easier said than done…..especially as you are just starting out.

1. Submitting to a competition forces you as the artist to curate your best work and ultimately pushes you to compete with ‘the best’.
2. Being accepted to a group show through a call for entry gives you ‘bragging rights’ for your resume, with your friends, and something to promote. There is always value in validation (and it just feels good too). As creatives, we fight discouragement on a regular basis and knowing that your work is good to others outside your circle helps.
3. There are art competitions throughout the world and submitting and being accepted allows you to broaden your market beyond your local area.
4. Being part of a group show gives you exposure to a new audience whether it’s buyers, other gallery owners, interior designers, or art consultants.
5. You have ‘skin in the game’ and learn a lot about your own work when seeing the judge’s choices. Being accepted is great, but you also learn a lot from not being accepted and analyzing the competition winners. Some of the choices you might agree with and some you probably won’t. But you get a sense of how your work starts to fit with other artists work.

There are some things that you should keep in mind when submitting.

• Submit work you feel passionate about not work that you think will get in.
• Read the rules of the competition. Make sure you never give the rights to your work away. You want to retain all rights.
• Prepare your images to the contest specifications so that your image will qualify, i.e., size, color space, and format.
• Don’t miss the deadline.

If you are not accepted, don’t be upset. There are many factors that influence the judging that have nothing to do with the quality or artistic merit of your work. Some may include the judges aesthetic, similarly looking images, and the need for the judge to create a well-rounded show.

Judges rarely if ever give you feedback on your work, so you have no idea if you were the first image they rejected or if they agonized over your image and at the last minute it didn’t make the list.

The most important thing to remember is that just because you were not accepted by one particular judge for a show doesn’t mean that another judge wouldn’t have accepted it. Keep in mind that each judge has his or her own sense of style of vision and not being accepted does not necessarily reflect upon the quality of your work.

For me the benefits far outweigh the downside of not being accepted. So I encourage you to have a look and enter as many competitions as possible!

I’d love to hear from you in the comments below. What have been your experiences with entering art competitions?

Be well….be creative,