34th Annual Betty Bowen Award

The Betty Bowen Award is open to all visual artists working in Washington, Oregon, or Idaho. One artist will be awarded a cash prize up to $15,000 and an opportunity to display their work at the Seattle Art Museum. Two Special Recognition awards in the amount of $2,500 are often granted at the discretion of the committee.

Betty Bowen (1918–1977) was a Washington native and enthusiastic supporter of Northwest artists. Her friends established the annual Betty Bowen Award as a celebration of her life and to honor and continue her efforts to provide financial support to the artists of the region. Since 1977, the Seattle Art Museum has hosted the yearly grant application process by which the selection committee chooses one artist from the Northwest to receive an unrestricted cash award.

Applicants must submit a resume, artist statement, and six images with their online application. When uploading images, include the title, date, medium, dimensions, and a brief description of each work. Artists working in film or video must upload six film stills and send a DVD or VHS of the complete work to: Betty Bowen Award/Call for Entry, c/o Modern and Contemporary Art Dept., Seattle Art Museum, 1300 1st Avenue, Seattle, WA 98101. All applications must be completed and submitted online by 11:00 PM Pacific Standard Time on August 1, 2012. Entry fee is $10.00.

The jury selection process begins with five finalists selected from approximately 500 entries. Finalists are invited to present their work to the committee individually. The committee then selects one award winner plus any Special Recognition Award winners. Selection is based on the quality of the work submitted, the creativity and skill of the artist, the artist's commitment to developing their work, the impact the award will have on the artist, and how developed the artist is in their career. Each year, two artists are selected as rotating members of the committee.