AcrylicWorks | The Best of Acrylic Art Competition
Begin the application process:
AcrylicWorks 12: The Best of Acrylic
Share your love of acrylics in our AcrylicWorks 12: The Best of Acrylic (2025), an annual competition that celebrates today’s top talents in the medium. In addition to cash prizes for top award winners, all works of art will be featured in a special newsstand publication presented by Artist Magazine and American Artist.
Super Early Bird Deadline – Dec 10, 2024
Artists Network Members: $15 Non-Members: $25
Early Bird Deadline – Jan 28, 2025
Artists Network Members: $25 Non-Members: $35
Final Deadline – Mar 25, 2025
Artists Network Members: $30 Non-Members: $40
Entry fees are due with entries. Your record of the credit card or PayPal charge will be your receipt.
Click here for the official Rules + Regulations.
- To enter, visit our online entry portal to log in or register for a free account.
- You can save your progress as you go and return anytime to make edits to your entries.
- This art contest is open to all artists around the world age 18 years or older.
- If you are a member, you will be asked to provide the email address associated with your Artists Network membership. If you’d like to take advantage of membership pricing sign up today to save on entry fees!
- Upload your entry details and image(s). There is no limit to the number of entries you may submit. You are able to edit your entries until the final deadline.
TOP 3 WINNERS
In addition to monetary awards, the top three prize winners will have their winning entries plus an in-depth artist’s profile published in The Best of Acrylic (Fall 2025), a special publication presented by the editors of Artists Magazine.
1st
$2,000
2nd
$1,000
3rd
$500
PRIZES & AWARDS
10 Honorable Mention Winners
$50 Gift Card
Honorable Mention winners will receive a $50 gift card to ArtistsNetwork.com and a one-year Artists Network Membership ($99.99 value).
All Award Winners
Publication in The Best of Acrylic
All winning entries PLUS an additional 100+ finalists will be featured in The Best of Acrylic (Fall 2025), a special publication presented by the editors of Artists Magazine. In addition, all winners will receive a digital award-winner badge.
JUROR OF AWARDS
Mary C. Carroll
Carroll received her Master of Fine Arts degree in both painting and art history from Radford University, graduating in 2010 Summa Cum Laude, and was awarded the University’s best graduate thesis. Her work is in the permanent collection of the New Salem Museum of Fine Art in Salem, Massachusetts, and has been exhibited at Wausau Museum of Contemporary Art in Wisconsin, Modern Eden Gallery in San Francisco, Kirk Gallery in Denmark, and The Taubman Museum of Art in Virginia. Her paintings have earned many awards and her work has been featured in a number of arts publications. She is represented by RJD Gallery, Abend Gallery and Lovetts Gallery. Carroll lives and works in Richmond, Virginia.
PAST WINNERS
First Place | AcrylicWorks 11
Neighbouring Field
By Helen Kaye
Second Place | AcrylicWorks 11
Unique
By Chantal Bourque
Third Place | AcrylicWorks 11
Environment
By Kathy Kitz
First Place | AcrylicWorks 10
Backyard
By Lu Bo
Second Place | AcrylicWorks 10
Below the Hillside
By Lynn Welker
Third Place | AcrylicWorks 10
June
By Mary C. Carroll
FAQs
QImportant notice about our NEW online entry system:
As of March 2024, we have transitioned to a new online entry system for all Artists Network competitions. We will no longer be using Submittable to manage our contests.
If you’ve previously entered an Artists Network competition via Submittable, you will still have access to your account and entry records when you log in to the Submittable platform.
If you have any questions or concerns about this switch, please contact us at [email protected].
QWhy is my entry still “In Progress”?
In order to officially enter your image into the jurying pool, you must hit “Submit Entry” during the entry process. This will place your image in the cart so that you may pay and complete your entry.
QWhy didn’t I receive a notification when I entered my artwork?
You must have your Award Force notifications enabled in Settings in order to receive updates about your entry. Please make sure that our emails (anything ending in @goldenpeakmedia.com) are not blocked, or you may not receive critical information, receipts, confirmations etc.
QWhat do I do if I make a mistake in my entry?
You may edit your entries up until the closing deadline of a contest. When logged into Award Force, click on “Enter” at the top of the screen. This will show your entries that are in progress or completed.
QWhat types of artwork are acceptable?
The dominant medium must be acrylic, though some minor use of other media may be acceptable. You must specify any other media used in addition to acrylic in your application.
Photography, except for minor elements incorporated in a collage, will NOT be considered. Sculpture will NOT be considered. Digital art will NOT be considered. Entries are limited to two-dimensional artwork. Two-dimensional means that a mixed media cannot exceed one inch in depth.
QOriginal artwork and Artificial Intelligence (AI) guidelines:
All works must be original. “Original” means that the work must be from the hand of a single artist; pieces that originate from a workshop or a class under the direction of a teacher are not eligible. For works based on reference photographs, eligibility requires that the artist must have taken the photographs or have obtained written permission from the photographer to create the work and to enter it in the Contest. Compositions based on published material or other artists’ work are NOT considered original and are not eligible.
Artwork or reference imagery generated by Artificial Intelligence (AI) will NOT be considered.
Click here for the official Rules and Eligibility details for AcrylicWorks 12: The Best of Acrylic.
