Painting & Drawing Open Calls
Do you work in painting or drawing? Are you looking for opportunities more tailored to your medium? Check out our selection of visual arts-focused open calls coming up around the globe.
Whether it’s a prize, residency, or fellowship, the right opportunity for accelerating your practice awaits you.
Lore Degenstein Gallery — 17th Annual Figurative Art Exhibition
This competition is open to two-dimensional figurative artists (referencing the human figure), who are over the age of 18, working in painting, drawing, printmaking, or fiber. The exhibition will take place at Lore Degenstein Gallery in Selinsgrove, PA (USA), from Saturday October 31–Sunday, December 13, 2026.
Reward: Cash prizes from $500-$2,000 and exhibition
Classical Roman Arts Foundation — The 2026 Ecco Eco Award
Classical Roman Arts Foundation is proud to announce the Fourth Edition of the Ecco Eco Awards, dedicated to echoing, celebrating and reverberating Classical Roman arts. Its objective is recognition and appreciation of contemporary artists or researchers who work in the tradition of, are inspired by or reflect on the Classical Roman arts, techniques, styles and influences still amazing us today. Those working in painting are encouraged to apply.
Reward: 1,000 euros prize for 1st place and 500 euros for 2nd
Aileen Murphy, We must go under the wallpaper, 2026. Images courtesy of the artist and Deborah Schamoni. Photos: Dirk Tacke & Stefan Korte.
Kingston Prize — 2026 Prize
This biennial competition is open to any Canadian artist who depicts a Canadian citizen or permanent resident in a portrait based on a real life encounter. The aim of The Kingston Prize is to encourage and reward the creation of contemporary portraits by Canadian artists, to promote Canadian artists through competition, and over time to develop an historical record of Canadians, by Canadians.
Reward: First prize is $25,000, two Honourable Mention awards of $3,000, People’s Choice award of $1,000, and an exhibition
The Bennett Prize — Call for entries for 2027
The Bennett Prize is a stipend/grant-in-aid program established to support the fine art practice of a woman painter working in figurative realism. The Bennett Prize is open only to women eighteen years or older residing at least part time in the United States whose primary practice is the creation of original paintings in the genre of figurative realism, and who identifies as a woman, regardless of their assigned gender at birth. This includes trans and cis women and nonbinary people.
Rewards: First prize $75,000, travelling exhibition for finalists and $10,000 runner up award
Mall Galleries — Royal Institute of Oil Painters Open Call
Artists are invited to submit work for exhibition alongside members of the Royal Institute of Oil Painters at the ROI Annual Exhibition 2026. The Royal Institute of Oil Painters was founded in 1882 and is the only major British art society that promotes and exhibits work of the highest standard exclusively in oil paint. The ROI welcomes submissions on all subjects and approaches to this wonderful medium, from plein air, landscape and still life to portraiture and abstract… there is no limit except the common denominator that the work must be created in oil. The 2026 special theme is ‘Winter Rituals.’
Rewards: €2000 cash prizes annually and exhibition at Contemporary Cluster, Rome.
Fumetto — Pulsar 2027
For the fifth time, Fumetto, in collaboration with the Global Ethic Foundation Switzerland, is awarding the PULSAR Comic Prize: The prize recognizes a promising young talent at the beginning of a promising comic career. Are you a comic artist, an undiscovered star in the comic world? Then this could be the right opportunity for you! The theme of the PULSAR 2027 is “Spark”.
A “spark” can be a small impulse with a big impact and serve as the starting point for solidarity and cooperation.
Rewards: CHF2500 prize, a solo exhibition at the Fumetto Comic Festival Luzern and a publication
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