International Association of Pastel Societies
Exhibition artwork

International Association of Pastel Societies

16th Master Circle Division

2026 Juried PastelWorld Exhibition

Hotel Albuquerque, Albuquerque, NM

June 17 – 20, 2026

Deadline is April 1st.
Find Open Calls

Opens for entry Feb 1st.

This is the Master Circle Exhibition

Location

Hotel Albuquerque,
Albuquerque, New Mexico

Awards

  • Prix de Pastel - $2,000
  • Gold Award - $1000
  • Silver Award - $600
  • Bronze Award - $400
  • four Awards of Excellence - $200 each

Eligibility

Open only to artists who have earned IAPS Master Circle or Eminent Pastelist status. Artists who have qualified for the Master Circle in the 47th IAPS Exhibition and before, are required to enter only this Division. Master Circle/Eminent Pastelist artists must have an up-to-date membership with an IAPS member society. Upon acceptance artists will be required to show proof of membership (membership card, cancelled check, or email from society president). A current list of IAPS member societies can be viewed at iapspastel.org.

Eligible Work

Please read carefully to make sure your work meets the following entry requirements.
  • Works must be in dry pastel. No oil pastels. Mixed media must be predominantly dry pastel.
  • Work must be original, not copied from other artists or published materials and from your own reference. Any reference provided by an instructor is not eligible, including an instructor-provided photo, still life setup or model setup.
  • Work that was done in a classroom or workshop scenario is ineligible.
  • All artwork must be originally drawn and not created on top of any type of photographic image.
  • All work must have been created within the last two years.
  • Paintings of nudes will be considered for acceptance.
  • Artwork sent to the show must be exactly the same piece as the photo submitted.
  • Work may not have been accepted in any previous IAPS Exhibitions. This does not include IAPS Member Society shows (see details below).
These are things that we ask you to consider, which the jurors will be aware of when they are choosing paintings for a show:
  • The top layer of the painting should be at least 80% dry application of pastel.
  • In the spirit of honesty and integrity each work should reflect human originality.
  • We recommend that you submit work that has not been included in a national show during the last 12 months and has not won an award in any previous exhibition. We suggest that you not submit your entries into shows that will be running concurrently.
Failure to meet any of the requirements for eligibility may result in the artwork not being juried.

Artwork submitted and accepted into this show that has been shown in a previous IAPS exhibition will be rejected and one honors point will be taken from the point total of the Artist. If this is a second infraction, the Artist will receive a two-year ban on entering future IAPS shows.

IAPS reserves the right to exclude from exhibitions any artwork deemed offensive, or any artwork that violates the laws of the United States, or of state or local governments.

Entry Fee

  • $35.00 for the first image and $10.00 for each additional image.
  • Up to 5 images may be submitted by an individual artist.
  • Entry fees are not refundable and must be paid by the entry deadline.

Notification

Up to 5 entries may be submitted, no more than one per artist will be accepted for the exhibition. All Artists will receive notification by email after jurying is complete. Please add [email protected] to your safe senders list to ensure email delivery.
If you need help with the online entry system, please contact Austin at [email protected]. For any other questions, please send email to Susan Weber at [email protected].
NOTICE OF CHANGE TO PAYMENT OF AWARDS: Going forward, all Award recipients will be paid by PayPal transfer. No more paper checks will be provided. If you do not currently have a PayPal account, we suggest that you create an account keeping in mind that a business account may be charged a percentage for processing.

Entry Procedures for Artists Outside the United States

Use the same entry procedures listed above. All payments are in usd.

Framing of Artwork

  • All accepted artwork must be appropriately framed to museum standards
  • (use simple, tasteful museum quality frames; no metal frames, no ornate frames; no colored mats or mat
  • decoration). Museum glass is suggested. Maximum framed size is 40” in either direction. IAPS and the
  • Hotel Albuquerque are not responsible for loss or damage to artwork while in transit or at the Exhibition; artists should carry their own insurance.

Artists Outside of the Us

Ship accepted pieces unframed. The paintings will be framed by Weems Gallery for the show. Post show Weems will unframe, package, and ship back to the artist. See attachment for details on estimated framing prices. Framed artwork will incur an additional $45 handling fee.

Handling Fee

There is a $100 handling fee paid to IAPS for accepted work that is shipped. An invoice for this fee will be included with the shipping instructions that the artist will receive along with the acceptance notification.

Hand-Delivery and Shipping

This information will be provided to artists upon acceptance.

If a painting is accepted into the show and the artist fails to display that painting in the show, one honors point will be taken from the point total of the Artist.

Sales

All work must be for sale. A 30% commission will be charged. Payment to the artist will be made after the buyer takes possession of the work at the close of the exhibition. The artist is responsible for all shipping including sold work.

Show Catalog

This year the show will be posted on the ShowSubmit Website and will be linked to the IAPS Website.

IAPS Master Circle and IAPS Eminent Pastelist Honors

Acceptance into this exhibition earns 1 point; an award earns an additional point. For information about the IAPS Master Circle, Eminent Pastelist, or the IAPS Code of Ethics, please see the IAPS Honors page on the IAPS web site, iapspastel.org

Questions?

If you need help with the online entry system, please contact Austin at [email protected]. For any other questions, please send email to Susan Weber at [email protected].

Jurors

IAPS has built a group of knowledgeable, accomplished artists to serve as a Jury Pool for our Exhibitions. We are pleased to announce the current esteemed members of this pool: Ellen Eagle, Ray Hassard, Isabelle V. Lim, Richard McKinley, Colette Odya Smith, Rae Smith and Jimmy Wright. The jury process will be completed by members of the Jury Pool, and for the purpose of efficiency, the specific members working on each Exhibition will remain anonymous.

Judge of Awards

Sylvie Poirson
President of the Art de Pastel en France, and a member of the Society of Pastellists of France, Pastel in Périgord, Pastel in Burgundy, Pastel of Opal and the Pastel Society of Eastern Canada. Sylvie has been active with IAPS as a member of the International Advisory Board and a valuable liaison with the pastel community in France.

Framing/Damage Repair

Framing
  • 1.25" Simple Black Moulding
  • 2" Mat
  • Conservation Clear Glass
  • With Mat
    • Artwork Size: 8x10" $ 79
    • Artwork Size: 16 x 20" $ 109
    • Artwork Size: 20 x 24" $ 154
  • Without Mat
    • Artwork Size: 8x10" $ 69
    • Artwork Size: 16 x 20" $ 94
    • Artwork Size: 20 x 24" $ 115
Framing + Damage repair charges subject NM Gross Receipts Tax 7.625%

Additional Notification Information

Notifications will be emailed and posted in your ShowSubmit account by the end of the day on April 30, 2026.

If you do not receive your email, login and view the notification in your account. We cannot respond to inquiries regarding the status of notifications.

Image and Filename Specifications

  • File Format: Submit original, high-quality JPEG image files. Other formats (e.g., PNG, TIFF) are not accepted.
  • Crop Your Image: Ensure only the artwork itself is visible in the image. Do not show any visible matting, frames, or background distractions.
  • Orientation: Make sure your image is oriented correctly (right side up) so that the artwork appears in its intended viewing direction.
  • Image Size: You do not need to resize your image files before uploading. The system will automatically resize them. Smaller images cannot be enlarged to meet the requirements, so ensure your images are high resolution before uploading.
  • File Names: You do not need to rename your files before uploading them. The system will handle any file naming requirements.
  • File Size: There is a 30mb maximum file size limit. Larger image files will take longer to upload and process.

Additional Entry Information

  • You will pay for your entry by credit or debit card using our secure checkout system.
  • After your entry is submitted and paid for, you may log back in to review your entry, edit artist and image information, and add or substitute images up until the entry deadline (April 1, 2026.)
  • Entry fees are not refundable and must be submitted and paid by the entry deadline.
  • Entries cannot be accepted or changed after the deadline. Incomplete entries will be disqualified.

Support

For questions about IAPS or this Prospectus, please contact Susan Weber ([email protected]).

For technical support or entry questions, first check our Help Center or Entry Guide. If you still need help, email ShowSubmit Support ([email protected]). We’ll respond between 9am and 6pm Eastern Time, Monday through Friday.