2025 Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition

The Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery invites artists to submit one portrait in any media for consideration in the seventh triennial Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition. The competition seeks to broaden the definition of portraiture and highlight the genre's relevance in society and contemporary art. Artworks may originate from direct encounters between artist and subject or draw upon existing imagery or archival research in response to history. Artists are encouraged to think about portraiture's potential to engage with the social and political landscape of our time.

All finalists' works will form a major exhibition at the Portrait Gallery from April 2025 through February 2026, with plans for a subsequent national tour. The competition is named for Virginia Outwin Boochever (1920–2005), a former Portrait Gallery volunteer whose generous gift endowed the program.

The competition is open to artists who are at least 18 years old at time of entry and living and working in the United States, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, or the Northern Mariana Islands. Each artist may enter only one work. The competition welcomes all media, including painting, drawing, sculpture, photography, printmaking, textiles, performance art, and digital or time-based art. Works must be completed after January 1, 2022. The entry fee is $50.00. Smithsonian Institution employees, regents, trustees, officers, volunteers, interns, fellows, research associates, and members of their immediate family or household are ineligible to enter.

Two-dimensional works should be framed and measure no more than 7 feet (H) x 7 feet (W) x 8 inches (D) including frame, weighing no more than 150 pounds. Sculptures should not exceed 7 feet (H) x 7 feet (W) x 4 feet (D) and should weigh no more than 150 pounds. Time-based media submissions should not exceed 10 MB for audio and 100 MB for video. Performance art submissions should include a fully developed written concept and visuals, or if previously performed, photographic or video documentation not to exceed 100 MB, or two still images. Artists are responsible for obtaining consent from their subject or their heirs to submit and display the work.