About
The 16th Annual Salon Art Prize consists of 11 monthly online competitions, and awards over $65,000 in cash prizes annually. Over $2,000 is awarded in each monthly competition, and the monthly winners go on to the Annual Competition where we award over $40,000, including two $15,000 Grand Prizes.
Judge
Scott Jones
Awards
Over $2,000 in all cash prizes each month.
- First Place - $600
- Second Place - $400
- Third Place - $300
- Category awards - $50 each (Total of 19 awards)
- Category Honorable Mention awards (Total of 19 awards)
Annual Awards
All of the monthly winners are automatically included in the judging for the Annual Competition held in May 2027 where over $40,000 is awarded.
- PleinAir Grand Prize - $15,000 + your painting featured on the cover of PleinAir Magazine
- Fine Art Connoisseur Grand Prize - $15,000 + your painting featured on the cover of Fine Art Connoisseur Magazine
- Second Place - $3,000
- Third Place - $2,000
- Three Honorable Mention Awards - $750 each
- Six Best Medium Awards - $500 each
Eligibility Requirements
- All individuals entering must be at least 18 years of age.
- Competition is open to residents of any state or country where acceptable by law.
Fees
- Early Bird Entry Fee: From the 1st-15th each month. First entry is $29, all additional entries are $12.
- Regular Entry Fee: From the 16th-month-end. First entry is $40, all additional entries are $16.
Paintings entered in multiple categories are considered separate entries, and will require a fee for each category entered. All entry fees are non-refundable and must be paid via credit or debit card by the entry deadline.
Rules
- Original Artwork: All entries must be original compositions and cannot be based on anything that has been published elsewhere. Copies of other artists' work are NOT considered original and are not eligible.
- Reference Photos: Paintings based on another person's photograph (even if copyright-free) are NOT eligible. Reference photos must belong to the artist entering.
- One Artist Only: All entries must be 100% painted by the artist entering and cannot have been painted partially by an instructor. Nor can someone enter the artwork of an artist who is now deceased. Paintings that were created as part of a group workshop where multiple artists painted the same image are NOT eligible.
- Paintings/Drawings ONLY: Photography, AI, digital, printed or painted over photographs are Prohibited.
- Employees or associates of Streamline Publishing, Inc., or their immediate families may not enter.
- Grand Prize: An artist can only win the Grand Prize once.
Entry Details
- ShowSubmit Account: When first entering the PleinAir Salon Art Competition, you'll be asked to create a profile.
- Categories: There are 19 categories to enter.
- Plein Air Categories: Paintings entered into any of the plein air categories must have been completed 100% in plein air.
- Image Sizes: Images should be at least 1920 pixels on the longest side, in JPEG format, sRGB color space.
- Online Only: Paintings do not need to be new or fresh, or even in your possession, since this is an online competition.
- Entry Limits: There is a limit of 25 entries you can enter in each monthly competition.
Judging
Judges include prominent artists, gallery owners, and museum curators and directors. After the close of each monthly competition, the judge scores all the paintings based on a blind judging system — the judge only sees the painting, title and medium, never the artist's information. Winners will be announced on the last day of the month following the competition.