Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition

The Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery invites artists to submit one portrait in any media for consideration in the sixth 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 the artist and the sitter 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.

The competition is open to artists who are at least 18 years old and living and working in the United States, Puerto Rico, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas, American Samoa, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Each artist may enter only one work. The competition welcomes all media, including painting, drawing, sculpture, photography, printmaking, textiles, video, performance, and digital or time-based art. Works must be new; any works completed before January 1, 2019, will be disqualified. The entry fee is $50.00. Submissions should include 1-2 images, and optionally up to 1 audio file or 1 video file (compressed to not exceed 10 MB for audio and 100 MB for video).

All finalists' works will form a major exhibition at the Portrait Gallery from April 2022 through February 2023, 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. For questions about the entry fee, contact [email protected].