To access this content, you must purchase Student Membership 2025.
Awards and Jurors
- Awards: $1,000 for first place, $750 for second place, $500 for third place, $250 for fourth place, and $100 for fifth place.
- Jurors:
The awarding juror is TBD
Show Information
- Entry: Students between the ages of 14 and 23 are invited to submit up to three oil paintings for award consideration. Students are encouraged to work under the direction of a teacher or faculty member although it is not required. It is FREE to enter!
- General Information: With over 3,500 artists, Oil Painters of America is one of today's leading professional art organizations in North America. OPA is pleased to announce its first Annual Student Art Competition open to all high school and collegiate level students living in the United States, Canada, or Mexico. OPA’s goal is to raise awareness of representational art and provide an opportunity for students to learn more about this beautiful art form.
- Show Rules: Rules & Regulations: To maintain the integrity and spirit of
the competition, the following rules apply:
● Paintings must be created on one singular flat substrate.
● The substrate must not exceed the maximum size of 1200 sq. inches (30” x 40”)
● Submission must be originally conceived: using your own reference, your own drawing, your own concept and must have been self-painted.
● Faculty or mentors can make suggestions only and should NOT work directly on the student’s canvas
● Copyright infringement of any kind is unacceptable. It is unethical and against OPA policy for artists to submit work created from another person’s drawing/painting/photo or other artwork that is not solely the artist’s copyright.
● Digital apps and programs may be used for cropping your reference photos, etc., but no digital, mechanical, photo, or other transferring to the substrate of any kind is acceptable. You must draw and/or paint the image on your substrate yourself.
● No direct copies of stock images, historic photos, or of any reference to which you do not hold total copyright are allowed. You must be able to provide signed documentation of total copyright should OPA request.
● The artist retains copyright to his/her image(s). However, award winners’ images do become part of OPA archives and may be used for future OPA event promotion.
● Paintings must be created in oils in the representational style. This includes a broad spectrum of styles ranging from realistic to impressionist – or your own style, as long as it is representational. Both plein air and/or studio work is acceptable. All submissions will be displayed online with the artist name, title, and size on OPA’s website.
● Award winning artists will be responsible for having their paintings properly framed and wired for hanging to participate in the National Exhibition. In addition, shipping to and from the exhibition will be the responsibility of the artist.
● Paintings exhibited in the student competition do not need to before sale. However, paintings that are for sale will be subject to a commission fee of 50% of which 40% will go to the Steamboat Art Museum, 10% to OPA, and 50% to the artist.
