[Side Arts Certified Sponsored Listing] Oil Painters of America (OPA) announces a call for artists for the 35th National Exhibition of Traditional Oils, hosted by the Steamboat Art Museum in Steamboat Springs, Colorado, on view May 29–August 29, 2026.
This exceptional exhibition will showcase the finest works in draftsmanship, color, and composition, featuring a diverse range of styles and subjects.
Click here for the application / registration
Enter by: 6 March 2026
OPA membership required. Over $100,000 in awards, including a $25,000 Best in Show!
Joining Oil Painters of America connects artists across North America who are dedicated to excellence in representational oil painting. Members gain access to free educational webinars, exclusive discounts on art products, and opportunities for professional growth and recognition through workshops, exhibitions, and networking with fellow artists.
Entering the National Exhibition of Traditional Oils provides a prestigious platform to showcase your work, compete for over $100,000 in awards, including a $25,000 Best in Show, and exhibit at the Steamboat Art Museum. Participants gain national exposure among collectors, galleries, and peers, while elevating their skills and reputation in the oil painting community.
About Oil Painters of America
Oil Painters of America (OPA) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving and promoting the timeless art of representational oil painting. With over 3,500 members across North America, OPA connects artists of all levels in a vibrant, supportive community where creativity thrives. Members gain access to prestigious national juried exhibitions, inspiring online showcases, and the annual convention featuring a wet paint competition, paint-outs, workshops, and live demonstrations. Exclusive webinars, scholarships, and art-product discounts provide tools to grow and experiment, while networking opportunities bring together passionate artists who celebrate the beauty, skill, and tradition of oil painting.
For more information, contact lpusch@oilpaintersofamerica.com
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[Side Arts Certified Sponsored Listing] The Art Renewal Center announces a call for artists for The 18th International ARC Salon Competition.
When talking about competitions dedicated to 21st Century Realism, the Art Renewal Center’s International ARC Salon ® is the largest in the world, receiving over 5,000 entries from 87 countries last competition. It is no wonder why artists are entering.
Click here for the application / registration
Enter by: 12 June 2025
Categories include: figurative, portraiture, imaginative realism, drawing, landscape, still life, plein air painting, fully from life, sculpture, animals, and a special category for teens.
ARC Salon Artist Benefits
With over $130,000 in cash awards and international recognition through the ARC website, which receives over 2,000,000 visitors annually, the ARC Salon offers career changing opportunities through partnerships with prestigious magazines, museums, and galleries. Don’t miss your chance to compete!
- All winners, honorable mentions, finalists, and semi-finalists will have their entries accompanied by their name and artwork details displayed on the ARC website. Biography, photo of the artist, and painting descriptions provided during the entry process may be shown for all qualifying works.
- All winners, honorable mentions, and some finalists will be featured in the 17th/18th International ARC Salon Book, “International Realism”.
- In addition, all winners and honorable mentions will receive an award certificate suitable for framing.
Works do not need to be available for sale to win any of the awards other then Purchase Awards. Works do not need to be available to exhibit in the ARC Salon Exhibition for all awards other then FWSD Awards.
About Art Renewal Center
Leading the revival of realism in the visual arts, the Art Renewal Center ® (ARC), a 501(c)(3), non-profit, educational foundation, hosts the largest online museum dedicated to representational art and includes works by the old masters, 19th century, and 21st Century Artists as well as articles, letters, and other online resources. The ARC is the foremost and only vetting service for representational art schools ensuring that the teaching curricula and quality of teacher and student work meet strict standards to become ARC Approved.
The ARC runs the ARC Salon Competition, which is the largest and most prestigious competition in the world for realist artists painting, sculpting, and drawing today with eleven categories and thousands of works competing, culminating in a live exhibition of many of the winning works. The ARC works with other ARC Allied Organizations, artist groups, museums, and publications to become a central news hub for the 21st Century Representational Art Movement.
For more information, contact sabrina.foland@artrenewal.org
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[Side Arts Certified Sponsored Listing] The Tartget Prize international painting competition invites artists from around the world to participate in its first edition. The competitions is dedicated to promoting art and creating opportunities for emerging artists while consolidating the reputations of distinguished painters.
With over €50,000 in cash prizes and international recognition awards through partnerships with magazines, galleries, fine art materials, and art scholarships, there are more than 50 prizes in total.
Click here for the application / registration
Enter by: 15 February 2025 (original)
DEADLINE EXTENDED: 28 February 2025
- 30 finalist spots among all participants who submit their works before December 23, 2024.
- If you don’t secure one of these 30 spots, your work will remain in the competition, giving you another chance after the registration deadline on February 15, 2025.
- If you submit at least two works before December 23, 2024, you will receive a 50% discount on your next application.
Open to all. Figurative, conceptual, and abstract paintings are accepted, according to categories. The registration fee for the contest is $50 for the first artwork and $30 for each additional artwork or different category. For participants under 25 years old, the registration fee is $30 for the first artwork and $15 for each additional one.
There are 10 categories to enter:
- Urban and Industrial Landscape
- Natural and Outdoor Landscape
- Animals and Wildlife
- Drawing and Illustration
- Still Life and Everyday Objects
- Figure and Portrait
- Fantasy and Imaginative
- Conceptual and Collage
- Abstraction
- A special category for teenagers
Works in all styles are accepted, including hyperrealism, photorealism, contemporary realism, imaginative realism, fantastic realism, surrealism, impressionism, expressionism, plein air painting, contemporary, abstraction, and any other type of representative painting.
Tartget Prize Awards
These are the main prizes of the competition:
- Best in Show: €12,000
- Second General Prize: €6,000
- Third General Prize: €4,000
- Tartget Fusion Prize: €4,000
- Acquisition Prizes: €1,000, €2,000, €3,000, and €4,000
- Best in Category: €500
After selecting the 200 finalists, Tartget Prize, along with a panel of physical jurors, will determine the works to be included in the grand physical exhibition to be held in Madrid, Spain, from June 5 to 12, 2025, in the historic Ateneo de Madrid building, just steps away from the Prado Museum and the Thyssen, where most of the winners will be announced.
About Tartget Prize
Tartget Prize is a major international painting competition celebrating its first edition, awarding over €50,000 in prizes. It is sponsored by some of the leading fine art product brands worldwide and boasts a prestigious jury composed of renowned international painters, gallerists, collectors, art critics, and curators.
Undoubtedly, it is a great opportunity for all painters who wish to advance their painting careers, gain recognition, establish themselves in the market, open doors to new opportunities, win significant cash prizes, and exhibit their work in Madrid, one of the world’s most important cultural cities, at the physical exhibition showcasing the best finalist and awarded works.
For more information, contact ceo@tartgetpaintingprize.com
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[Side Arts Certified Sponsored Listing] Mills Pond Gallery invites artists to submit works for Figurative and Narrative, a national juried fine art exhibition to be held June 3 – July 1, 2023. The exhibition is open to oil, watercolor, pastel, and acrylic paintings. The subject matter is open and can range from portraiture to figurative or narrative subject matters.
Click here for the application / registration
Enter by: 26 April 2023
Entry Fee: $45/3 images
Juror: Zimou Tan. This is an opportunity to have your work selected by an Art Renewal Center Associate Living Master Artist who has exhibited his work widely both nationally and internationally and has been a master teacher for over twenty years, teaching how to capture the essence and spirit of a subject and tell stories in art to communicate emotion.
Entrants will have the opportunity to win one of three awards – $1200 Best in Show, $800 Second Place, or $400 Third Place and be invited to a future winners exhibition. Besides being shown in the gallery, all selected artists will have their work shown on the Mills Pond Gallery website.
About Mills Pond Gallery
Smithtown Township Arts Council operates Mills Pond Gallery in an historic Greek Revival building built in 1838. There are five gallery rooms and the facility can display an average of 60 works of art.
Adaptation of Mills Pond House for public use has introduced modern mechanical systems to the structure without impairing its historic integrity. Gallery lighting and handicapped access have been designed to complement the original building. Notable among the circa 1838 Grecian details are the gold-veined marble mantelpieces, ornamental plater “centres” applied to the ceilings, and front and rear stoops supported by wooden Doric columns.
Mills Pond house preserves the locality’s name, but departs from tradition in other respects. Its high-style Grecian design is unusual on Long Island and the hand of an accomplished architect is nearly unique at this early date. Pollard’s influence is seen in the use of imported materials: Albany boards, Carolina yellow pine, English glass, Connecticut stone, and Santo Domingan mahogany. The silvered hardware, decorative plaster, and carpeting were bought in New York City shops. William Wickham Mills died in 1865. His home descended in the family until its gift to the Town of Smithtown in 1976. Today, it is preserved for use as an arts-related facility.
For more information, contact gallery@stacarts.org.