REQUIREMENTS: You may apply with 1 - 2 images of the same portrait with the following: * Images: apply with 1 image of your complete portrait and a detail (optional) OR * Video: apply with up to 1 video and a still image (optional). Portraits in all visual arts mediums are welcome in the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition 2013, such as single figures, groups, or self-portraits The call for entries for the competition runs through November 30, 2011. Please Note: Opening and closing dates for the Competition are on Mountain time. The Competition is open to all professional artists age 18 and over who are living and working in the United States and its territories. Each artist may enter only one portrait depicting anyone, but the work must be the result of the artist’s direct encounter with that person. The portrait must have been completed after January 1, 2010. The human form must be the focus of the portrait, but artists are invited to interpret the concept of portraiture broadly; for example, an entry might not include a face. Smithsonian Institution employees, regents, trustees, interns, volunteers, fellows, and research associates are ineligible to enter the Competition.
Prizes:
• First prize: $25,000 cash prize and the opportunity for a commission to create a portrait of a remarkable living American for the National Portrait Gallery's permanent collection.
• Second prize: $7,500 cash prize
• Third prize: $5,000 cash prize
• Commended artists: Up to four additional artists may be commended for their work, and they will receive $1,000 each.
• The winner of the People’s Choice Award will receive $500.
• All finalists' work will form a major exhibition on view at the National Portrait Gallery from March 22, 2013 until January 4, 2014.

Entry to the Competition and submission of JPEG images is available on this website for a nonrefundable registration fee of $35. Payment will be accepted by credit card or debit card only. After artists have completed the entry form, the transaction email receipt you will receive from CaFE.org confirms receipt of your entry. Artists who wish to submit time-based media should submit five-minute (05:00:00) or less sample of their full-length work only. Further instructions are available in the entry form. For digital work, enter a still image of the portrait. Someone from the NPG will contact you for a link to the piece. Artists may submit a statement about their work, their particular entry, and/or the circumstances of the creation of the portrait. Dimensions and medium information will also be requested. The first round of jurying will be done online. Judges will identify the semifinalists, whose works will be transported to and from Washington, D.C. at the Portrait Gallery’s expense. The final selection of winners and other exhibitors will be made from those original semifinalist portraits. The public will have an opportunity to vote for its favorite work among the finalists through the People’s Choice Award. The jury is composed of the following persons:
• Martin E. Sullivan, Director, National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.
• Brandon Fortune, Curator, Department of Painting and Sculpture, National Portrait Gallery, Washington, D.C.
• Dorothy Moss, Assistant Curator, Department of Painting and Sculpture, National Portrait Gallery, Washington, D.C.
• Peter Frank, Writer, curator and critic, Los Angeles, California
• Hung Liu, Artist and Professor, Mills College, Oakland, California
• Richard J. Powell, John Spencer Bassett Professor of Art & Art History and Professor of African/African American Studies, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina
• Alec Soth, Artist, Minneapolis, Minnesota
More information about the Competition, its history, and frequently asked questions is available at www.portraitcompetition.si.edu Please Note: THE RULES OF ENTRY THAT FOLLOW MUST BE ACCEPTED BY ALL APPLICANTS LATER IN THIS PROCESS Who May Enter The competition is open to all artists, 18 years of age and older (as of January 1, 2011), who are legal residents of the United States or its territories with an address in the United States at the time of the competition. Employees, volunteers or interns, Regents, and members of advisory boards of the Smithsonian Institution and their immediate families (children, siblings, and spouses), competition sponsors, employees or immediate families of the judges, and their respective agents are not eligible. No work previously submitted for this competition is eligible for resubmission, but artists included in previous competitions may enter again, with the exception of the first-prize winner in a previous Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition. What to Enter The work entered should be understood as a portrait in the broadest sense. It may be a traditional, representational work or it may be a more experimental portrait, but it must be based on the artist’s direct contact with any living individual (s). Self-portraits will be accepted. Each artist may enter only one portrait, and it must have been completed after January 1, 2010. Entries will be accepted in all visual arts media, including, but not restricted to: painting, drawing and watercolor, sculpture, weaving, ceramics, photography, prints, video, film, and other digital or time-based media. Paintings, drawings, pastels and watercolors should be framed (strip frames are acceptable). Paintings should preferably be unglazed. Works on paper should be framed and glazed with UV filter glass or plexiglass. All two-dimensional work shall measure no more than 7 feet by 7 feet by 8 inches (including frame), nor should they weigh more than 150 pounds. The National Portrait Gallery will provide attachment hardware for works selected for exhibition. Photographs and prints should be framed and glazed with UV filter glass or plexiglass. All two-dimensional works must measure no more than 7 feet by 7 feet by 8 inches (including frame), nor should they weigh more than 150 pounds. The National Portrait Gallery will provide attachment hardware for works selected for exhibition. Sculptures may be freestanding or wall-mounted and may be composed of any sculptural medium. This includes, but is not limited to, stone, metal, fiber, clay, wood, paper, or resin. Sculptures should not exceed 7 feet (height) by 7 feet by 4 feet in size, nor should they weigh more than 150 pounds. The National Portrait Gallery will provide platforms, pedestals, or attachment hardware for sculpture selected for exhibition. Video, film, digital and time-based media will be accepted, and special instructions for entering these works will be available in the online entry form. The online entry form MUST be completed. Entry Method The first round of jurying will be done online via Café.org/WESTAF so DO NOT send the original artwork. Online entry is required via this Web site and Café.org/WESTAF. For ease of entry be sure you have a broadband connection to the internet, such as cable, fiber, or DSL. Do not attempt to submit digital images with a dial-up connection. Check this website beginning September 1, 2011 for complete details. www.portraitcompetition.si.edu. Online entry and image: You will need to fill out an online entry form and upload at least one image to the competition Web site via Café.org/WESTAF. You may submit up to 2 JPEG images of your portrait. EACH FILE SHOULD BE PERFECTLY SQUARE AT 1920 X 1920 PIXELS AND NO LARGER THAN 1.8 MEGABYTES (1.8MB). By submitting an online entry form, artist is agreeing to be notified by e-mail if he or she is chosen as a potential finalist of the Portrait Competition. For online entry with uploaded images, the fee is $35, payable by credit card. All fees are nonrefundable. The National Portrait Gallery reserves the right to limit the number of entries accepted and may close online entry at any time between September 1 and November 30, 2011. Entry Deadlines September 1, 2011, 9:00 a.m. MT (Mountain Time) Call for Entries begins November 30 , 2011, midnight MT (Mountain Time) Deadline for submitting entries April 15, 2012 Semifinalists are notified May 15, 2012 Semifinalist work must be available for shipping to Washington, D.C. October 30, 2012 Finalists are notified, and non-selected works are returned to artists March 22, 2013 The Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition 2013 exhibition opens at the National Portrait Gallery January 4, 2014 The Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition 2013 exhibition closes January – February, 2014 Artworks are returned to exhibiting artists (unless a traveling exhibition is organized) Judging Judging will be done by a panel of experts selected by the National Portrait Gallery, who will initially select approximately 100 semifinalists. On or before April 15, 2012, the National Portrait Gallery will contact artists who have been selected as semifinalists by e-mail. Artists whose work was not selected for further consideration will also be notified at this time. Upon notification of semifinalist status, entrants will be required to sign a loan agreement, which will also include an affidavit confirming their eligibility. Artists must have written approval to submit a work by the artist that is owned by a third party, and must provide the owner’s guarantee that (1) the owner will be bound by these rules and (2) if the work is chosen, it may be placed on loan to the National Portrait Gallery for the duration of the exhibition and any subsequent traveling exhibition. Artists chosen as semifinalists may not alter the work entered in any way, i.e. by printing photographs in different sizes, by additional varnishing, etc. Work entered in the competition may not be sold at any time during the competition and subsequent exhibition. Semifinalist works will be packed if necessary, and shipped, at the National Portrait Gallery’s expense, to Washington, D.C., for further judging from the original portraits. The Gallery will ask the artist to cover any additional packing and shipping expenses that exceed $3,000.00, one way. Artists must insure their work in transit, until arrival and condition reporting by NPG is complete, and from the time the work leaves National Portrait Gallery custody. Insurance for the work while it is in the custody of the National Portrait Gallery will be provided by the National Portrait Gallery and will be based on the artist’s good faith estimate of the market value of the work. In the event of damage or loss to the work while in National Portrait Gallery custody, the artist will be required to accept insurance proceeds as the sole means of recovery against the National Portrait Gallery. On or before October 30, 2012, approximately 50 to 60 finalists whose work has been selected for the exhibition, including those awarded prizes, will be notified by e-mail. Works not selected will be returned to the artists only to an address within the United States as provided by the artist. Prizes The grand prize is $25,000. The winner will also have an opportunity for a commission to create a portrait of a remarkable living American for the National Portrait Gallery’s permanent collection. The artist and the National Portrait Gallery will work together to select the subject of the portrait and the fee for the commission. The second prize will be $7,500. The third prize will be $5,000. The judges may commend up to four additional works with prizes of $1,000 each. The People’s Choice Award winner will receive $500. The decision of the judges is final, and no challenges will be permitted. Winners of cash prizes are responsible for all taxes due on such awards. The Exhibition The Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition 2013 is currently scheduled to be on view at the National Portrait Gallery from March 22, 2013 until January 4, 2014.and may travel at the conclusion of the exhibition. The exhibition will comprise the jurors’ top 50-60 selected portraits, including the prizewinning entries. The top seven artists who have been shortlisted for an award will be expected to attend the presentation ceremony. The National Portrait Gallery will reimburse these artists for standard travel and lodging costs, subject to prior approval by the National Portrait Gallery. All artists whose works are exhibited will be invited to attend the opening reception. All exhibiting artists and prizewinners will be required to sign a loan form for the duration of the exhibition and any subsequent travelling exhibition, and a consent form for the use of their name, image, and artwork in connection with the Portrait Competition exhibition, and all related advertising, marketing, publicity, public programs, and promotion for the exhibition. Work brought to and from the National Portrait Gallery for the Portrait Competition will be handled by professional art movers and installers, and all such arrangements will be made by the National Portrait Gallery. Work will be picked up only from an address in the United States and its territories, and the National Portrait Gallery will return work only to the address from which it was picked up, unless the artist notifies the National Portrait Gallery in writing of a change of address in the United States. All packing and shipping will be handled and paid for by the National Portrait Gallery, but the artist must cover any costs which exceed $3,000.00, one way. If the return address is more than 50 miles distant from the original pick up address, the artist may be required to cover the difference in shipping costs. The artist shall carry insurance for the work while in transit to and from the National Portrait Gallery. Insurance in the amount of the good faith estimate of value determined by the artist shall be placed on all loans and carried in force from the time when the work enters the custody of the National Portrait Gallery and is condition reported until the work leaves the National Portrait Gallery at the conclusion of the exhibition, including any subsequent travelling exhibition. This shall be an all-risk policy subject to standard policy exclusions carried by the Smithsonian Institution, and all costs shall be borne by the National Portrait Gallery. In the event of loss or damage to the work while in the custody of the National Portrait Gallery, the artist will be required to accept insurance proceeds as its sole form of remedy against the National Portrait Gallery. Works that cannot be repaired if damaged due to the nature of the materials will not be insured and the National Portrait Gallery bears no responsibility for damage or loss to such works. The National Portrait Gallery bears no responsibility for loss or damage caused by normal wear and tear or inherent deterioration of the works. Works selected for exhibition cannot be removed by the artist before the end of the exhibition (and travelling exhibition) and may not be sold during the course of the competition or the exhibition (September 1, 2011 – January 4, 2014) or travelling exhibition. Rights Ownership of all portraits submitted for the Portrait Competition, including copyright, will remain the property of the artist, but it is a condition of entry that the artist shall grant to the National Portrait Gallery the irrevocable, royalty-free, worldwide right to use and reproduce all exhibited works for the exhibition publications, public programs, publicity, promotion, research, postcards, prints, posters, and other products, in all formats, including but not limited to electronic distribution on websites and social media accounts maintained by the National Portrait Gallery and the Smithsonian, in connection with the Portrait Competition and resulting exhibition. Distribution can occur either through printed or electronic media. The artist is required to secure a written model release from the subject to enable the National Portrait Gallery to use and reproduce the portrait. Semifinalists will be provided with a form for this purpose. The winning artist will be required to transfer ownership of, and assign all rights, including copyright, in the commissioned portrait to the National Portrait Gallery, but the National Portrait Gallery will grant the artist a license to reproduce the portrait for use in his or her portfolio for noncommercial, portfolio purposes. The commissioned portrait will be submitted to the National Portrait Gallery’s Commission for approval of its inclusion in the National Portrait Gallery’s permanent collection. By participating in this contest, artists agree to be bound by these rules, including all eligibility requirements. All interpretations of the rules and decisions by the National Portrait Gallery relating to the rules and the Portrait Competition are final. The National Portrait Gallery reserves the right at its sole discretion to disqualify any artist it finds to be tampering with the entry process or the operation of the Portrait Competition or Web site or to be acting in violation of the Rules of Entry. The National Portrait Gallery is not responsible for any problems or technical malfunctions of the Internet or any Web site, including injury or damage to artists or to any other person's computer related to or resulting from participating or downloading materials in this Portrait Competition. If, for any reason, the Portrait Competition is not capable of running as planned, the National Portrait Gallery reserves the right at its sole discretion to cancel, terminate, modify, or suspend the Portrait Competition. Collection of personally identifiable information from artists will be done in accordance with the Smithsonian Institution Privacy Policy as posted on http://www.si.edu/privacy.

Application Requirements

Eligibility Criteria