COMPETITIONS
MEMBERS ONLY COMPETITION
2024 1st Place
Non-Commissioned Portrait
Carla Paine
All members of the Portrait Society of America are eligible to enter the 21st annual Members Only Competition for the chance to see their work featured in the pages of International Artist magazine, The Art of the Portrait Journal, and the Portrait Society of America website and social media pages.
Applications for the 21st Annual Members Only Competition will open August 5.
The Members Only Competition, held annually, is open to all Portrait Society members in good standing. Each fall, up to five categories are offered, and members can submit up to one artwork per category. 2025 Categories are Commissioned Portrait, Non-Commissioned Portrait, Outside the Box, Landscape, Animals as the Subject. All work must be your own original design and concept, created independently, completed in the last three years and have never won an award in any previous art competition. All media is accepted in each category including oil, pastel, watercolor, graphite, sculpture, etc. No electronic/computer generated or altered artwork, work done in a class, workshop or under supervision is eligible.
INTERNATIONAL PORTRAIT COMPETITION
The 28th Annual International Portrait Competition opens from September 23, 2025 - February 2, 2026. The finalists will be announced March 2, 2026, showcasing the finest in portraiture and figurative art today. Their selected original artwork will be on display at the prestigious The Art of the Portrait conference in Atlanta, GA, April 9-12, 2026, for final judging and awards of the $50,000 Draper Grand Prize on Saturday, April 11, 2026.
The International Portrait Competition is open to all artists, members and non-members. A variety of mediums is welcomed and encouraged.
2025 Draper Grand Prize - Frances Bell
The Portrait Society of America is pleased to announce the winners for our sixth annual The Future Generation Competition. This competition was created to acknowledge the work of talented, emerging artists, who are 18 to 25 years old.
Early recognition in art competitions can have a great impact on a young artist’s career, as it did for John Singer Sargent, who at the age of twenty-three, won Honorable Mention at the Paris Salon for a portrait he painted of his teacher, Carolus-Duran.
Sixth Annual Application Deadline: August 14, 2025.
Notifications: September 10, 2025.
THE FUTURE GENERATION
First Place - Olivia Arts
Sixth Annual Competition