Pastel Society of Maine
Exhibition artwork

Pastel Society of Maine

Pastels Only

26th Annual Open Juried Exhibition

May 3 – 31, 2026

Deadline is April 15th.
Find Open Calls

Opens for entry Feb 1st.

Location

Entry Fee

  • PSME Members
    3 works: $40
    PSME membership dues must be current.
  • Non-members
    3 works: $60
Each artist may submit up to 3 entries. A maximum of 1 piece per artist may be juried into the show. This allows more individual participants in the exhibit.

Entry fees are not refundable and must be paid by the entry deadline. Incomplete entries will be disqualified.

Awards

1st Place: $1000
2nd Place: $750
3rd Place: $500
and 9 more awards

Judge of Awards

Carol Strock Wasson, carolstrockwasson.com

Jury of Selection

The jury committee will not see your name and title so the jury process is objective.

Notifications of accepted and non-accepted work will be emailed, Tuesday, April 21, 2026.

Eligible Works

  • Open to all soft pastel artists.

    Membership in the PSME is not required but encouraged.
    Join PSME at our website: PastelSocietyOfMaine.org/join
  • All subjects and styles are acceptable except: no erotic nor overtly political works.
  • Paintings must be artist’s original design and composition, not copied from any other artist’s work, not painted in a class nor workshop under an instructor’s supervision. Use only the artist’s own photographs or sketches as reference.
  • NO AI or digitally manipulated work, painted giclee prints nor any other type of manipulated reproductions.
  • There is no size limit.
  • Submitted images must be in focus and cropped so only the painting image shows (no pins, tape, mats showing). Any such image will be disqualified. The committee reserves the right to refuse paintings for any reason.
  • Work must be completed in the past 2 years and the surface must be comprised of 80% soft pastels. No oil pastel.
  • NFS is allowed. (see other info in “Sales” below)
  • If an accepted work is discovered to be in another concurrent exhibit, it becomes disqualified from the competition and artist is banned from PSME juried exhibitions for two years.
  • NO paintings allowed that have won top awards (1st, 2nd, or 3rd) in any National or International juried pastel competition
  • NO paintings allowed that were previously shown in Pastel Society of Maine juried competitions
  • NO painting allowed which is simultaneously being shown in any other national or international juried art competition.
  • Upon submitting, the artist grants permission for PSME to use the image for promotion.
  • Any artist whose work is determined to be in violation of these rule will be disqualified and will forfeit any awards received and will be banned from any and all PSME exhibitions for the following two years.
  • Submitting artists must have access to a US mailing address or international PayPal account.

Sales

  • Painting price may not be changed after submission.
  • PSME Show Chair will notify the artist of any interest in the purchase of a painting.
  • It is the artist’s responsibility to handle payment and delivery of any sold artwork.
  • All entries must either have a sale price or be marked not for sale (NFS). No works marked POR will be accepted.

Payment of Awards

Award recipients will be paid by check (US artists only) or by PayPal transfer (non-US artists).

Terms and Agreement

By submitting images to this juried opportunity, you understand and agree that accepted images can be displayed on the PSME and Sponsors websites, Facebook page, and other social and/or print media.

Disqualifications may occur if:

  • You fail to provide accurate information about yourself or your paintings.
  • You fail to follow the prospectus guidelines.
  • Your ShowSubmit entry is incomplete.
Disqualification means you will be dropped from the 26th Pastel Society of Maine Open Juried Exhibition and will be ineligible to submit until the 2028 PSME exhibitions.

Additional Notification Information

Notifications will be emailed and posted in your ShowSubmit account by the end of the day on April 21, 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 15, 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 PSME or this Prospectus, please contact Terrilynn Dubreuil ([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.