Deadline for entry: March 13, 2026
Exhibition Detail
The American Women Artists' annual online juried competition is open to all levels of AWA membership. AWA will distribute over $10,000 in cash awards. Selected artists are also eligible for in-kind awards, including advertisements, art materials, and subscriptions from AWA’s generous donors. In addition to cash and in-kind awards - including a $2,000 cash Grand Prize award - approximately 120 works selected will appear on AWA's online gallery for an entire year, be featured in our monthly digital magazine, and be promoted through AWA's social media channels. Jurors are award-winning artists and include Gladys Roldan-de-Moras, a Prix de West award-winning artist known for her paintings of Spanish culture; Kathrine Lemke Waste, former AWA President and California contemporary realist painter; and Louise Solecki Weir, world renowned Canadian sculptor.
American Women Artists is dedicated to the inspiration, celebration, and encouragement of women in the visual Fine Arts. As part of our mission, AWA not only increases the visibility of women’s art in museums across the U.S., but also offers financial support, recognizing mastery in the field. If you are not yet an AWA member, we invite you to join as an Associate Member and enter our 2026 Online Juried Exhibition!
Eligibility
- Open to all current AWA Members.
- Open to women at least 18 years of age, who are working in the fine arts and residents of either the United States or Canada.
To submit and show works, applicants and finalists Must be a current member of American Women Artists.
If you would like to join as a new member please visit our website. Please remember that if you are joining as a new member on our website, you also need to apply separately via the ShowSubmit Call for Entries link and pay the entry fee. Your new membership is valid for a year full of benefits!
To check the status of your membership, please login to your portal or email [email protected]. If you do not have a current membership by the submission deadline your entry will be disqualified. Your membership must be valid throughout the exhibition period.
If you would like to join as a new member please visit our website. Please remember that if you are joining as a new member on our website, you also need to apply separately via the ShowSubmit Call for Entries link and pay the entry fee. Your new membership is valid for a year full of benefits!
To check the status of your membership, please login to your portal or email [email protected]. If you do not have a current membership by the submission deadline your entry will be disqualified. Your membership must be valid throughout the exhibition period.
American Women Artists seeks to present an exhibition of fine art demonstrating excellence in terms of composition, technique, mastery of medium and quality of design. The final selection will be an exemplary showcase of a diverse group of representational and abstract artworks by artists who draw, paint, and sculpt.
Entry Rules
- The 2026 Annual Online Juried Exhibition is open to all AWA Members in good standing.
- Applications may be submitted from Monday, January 12, 2026–Friday, March 13, 2026 and finalists will be announced by Tuesday, March 31, 2026.
- Entries may be representational or abstract work(s): drawing, painting, printmaking, mixed media, as well as sculpture. All subjects and styles are eligible, from traditional to contemporary.
- Work(s) must be original. 2D works must have been completed within the last two years and 3D works must have been completed in the last five years.
- Works do not have to be for sale. Sold works may be submitted. Enter NFS in the entry form.
Please note any prices listed cannot be changed after entry, and shipping fees are the responsibility of the artist. Artists will receive 55% of the sales price for 2D works and 60% for 3D works. AWA will receive 45% for 2D and 40% for 3D to support its mission and fund future artist awards. - As this is an online show, there is no size restriction on the work(s) submitted.
- All work(s) entered must not have been accepted for a previous AWA national juried museum competition or online juried show.
- Acceptable mediums for sculpture include cast metal, fabricated metal, stone, glass, wood, and any fired permanent medium such as terra cotta, stoneware, porcelain, and earthenware.
- Acceptable mediums for painting include oil, acrylic, water media, pastel, egg tempera, encaustic, mixed media, and batik.
- Acceptable mediums for drawing include conte crayon, colored pencil, graphite, pen & ink, scratchboard, charcoal, and original hand-pulled prints.
- Mixed Media is acceptable only if created using acceptable mediums as listed above. Mixed Media cannot include any mediums deemed not acceptable, as listed below.
- Nonacceptable mediums include craft, jewelry, fiber, fabric, photography, video, digital prints including giclee, or any work containing computer-generated elements.
- Work(s) must have been created by the artist without paid supervision or as part of a class or workshop.
- Work(s) may not be a copy or imitation of another work. Any reference provided by an instructor is not eligible, including an instructor-provided photo, still-life setup, or model setup.
- Work(s) must be original and from your own reference, not copied from other artists or published materials.
- All artwork must be originally drawn and not created on top of any photographic image.
- Maximum entries: three (3)
- A maximum of one (1) piece of artwork per accepted artist will be juried into the online exhibition.
- By submitting images to this juried opportunity, you understand and agree that accepted images will be displayed on the AWA website, Facebook or Instagram page, and other social and/or print media.
- By entering this show, artists acknowledge they own full copyright to the submitted work. If you are unsure about copyright and copyright infringement, learn more at Copyright.gov - What Visual and Graphic Artists Should Know about Copyright | U.S. Copyright Office. AWA is not liable for any copyright claim made against an entered work. Artists retain copyright to their image(s).
- By entering this exhibition, you agree that you have read and will abide by all rules outlined in this prospectus. AWA reserves the right to reject any work it deems to not comply with these rules or any work that AWA deems offensive.
- Failure to meet any eligibility requirements will result in the submitted artwork being disqualified. It may result in the artist's disqualification from participation in AWA's next exhibition at AWA's sole discretion.
- All membership and entry fees are non-refundable.
Application
The 2026 Annual Online Juried Exhibition application process will begin Monday, January 12, 2026 and close on Friday, March 13, 2026. Finalists will be announced no Tuesday, March 31, 2026. The entry form must be filled out in its entirety. List sizes up to the nearest inch. Submitted images must not include matting or frame. Crop the photos to include only the artwork. Be sure your images are right-side-up. Artists may submit multiple images of 3-D work(s) to show different views of artwork.
Before uploading your images, make sure they are 1920 pixels or larger on the longest side. Images should be in JPEG format, with RGB color space. ShowSubmit will handle renaming and resizing the images for you.
Help in photographing your work and properly sizing your images can be found at showsubmit.com/photoprep. Please do not wait until the last day to ask for help!
Entry Fees
$45.00 for up to three pieces.
Payment for jury fees must be made through ShowSubmit via credit card at time of application. Entry fees are non-refundable.
Payment for jury fees must be made through ShowSubmit via credit card at time of application. Entry fees are non-refundable.
No Changes
Please note that no changes can be made to your application after submission. Please check your price, title, image, etc. because these details will be used in the online gallery should your work be selected by the jurors.
Deadline
Entries will be accepted Monday, January 12, 2026 – Friday, March 13, 2026.
Notification Date
All jury status notifications will be sent by and posted on ShowSubmit and accepted works will be posted at www.americanwomenartists.org no later than Tuesday, March 31, 2026.
Awards
There will be cash and merchandise awards totaling at least $10,000. Award packages are designed to support, encourage, and inspire women in the visual fine arts.
Sales Commission and Shipping
AWA will process sales through its website. If a sale occurs, the artist will receive 55% of the price for 2D works and 60% for 3D. AWA will receive 45% for 2D works and 40% for 3D works to support its mission and future exhibition awards. If an artist sells the work independent of any of AWA’s promotion of the work and the exhibition, the artist must notify AWA immediately so the piece can be marked as sold online. If the artist sells the artwork because of the AWA exhibition website and/or promotion, proceeds must be shared with AWA, under commission terms outlined in this section.
Artwork must be priced in accordance with the artist’s current pricing structure and must account for shipping to the buyer. Buyers will not be billed for shipping. Pricing will appear on the AWA website. Prices cannot be changed after entry. The Artist is responsible for shipping artwork to buyer and insurance of artwork to cover the full value of the artwork while in transit. AWA members have free membership with ShipandInsure.com for reduced shipping and additional insurance. AWA reserves the right to reject the sale of any work it deems to not comply with these rules, is damaged, or is not accurately represented. Appropriate sales tax will be paid by the buyer.
Agreement
By entering this exhibition, the artist agrees that they have read and will abide by all rules outlined in this prospectus. All membership and jury fees are non-refundable. Submission of work for this exhibit will be construed as acceptance of all conditions set forth in prospectus.
Questions
Please add [email protected] to your safe senders list to ensure notifications are received.
Additional Notification Information
Notifications will be emailed and posted in your ShowSubmit account by the end of the day on March 31, 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 (March 13, 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 AWA or this Prospectus, please contact AWA ([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.