Entry to the competition is now closed. Entry details on this site are for your information only and in order to help artists prepare for the next competition.
THE 2026 COMPETITION IS NO LONGER ACCEPTING SUBMISSIONS.
Call to artists: The Kingston Prize 2026
The Kingston Prize Canadian portrait competition will be held in 2026. Eligible entries are portraits of Canadians by Canadian artists, either paintings or drawings. Deadline for entries is September 1, 2026. The Competition for the Kingston Prize is open to Canadian artists aged 18 years and over on the date of the deadline for entries.
Awards: The Kingston Prize of $25,000, two Honourable Mention awards of $3,000 each and a People’s Choice award of $1,000.
The exhibition of thirty finalists will be held at a venue in the Greater Toronto Area in November, 2026.
Please refer to the rules for the 2026 competition to prepare your work. Entries may be submitted between April 15, 2026 and September 1, 2026.
What you need to know to enter
1. Image
A professional-quality, high resolution digital photograph file of your portrait is required for the jury. If you are chosen as a finalist, this image will be used for publication in the catalogue, online and elsewhere.
Required file format: .jpg
File size: Between 1 MB and 4 MB. Larger files will be automatically rejected
Filename convention: LastnameFirstname.jpg (i.e. WhiteJohn.jpg)
[Please do not add additional letters, numbers or dashes to your file name i.e. White_John1.jpg.]
It is recommended that an experienced or professional photographer be engaged to produce the image. Crop the resulting image to just inside the edges of the artwork using photo editing software to produce a .jpg file at 300 pixels per inch.
2. Artist’s Statement, Biography and Curriculum Vitae
The artist must submit a one page document containing an artist’s statement, biography and CV.
Artist’s Statement: The artist’s statement may describe such topics as the circumstances, the subject, the style, and the philosophical background of the portrait. This statement may be used for press releases and publicity.
Biography: The artist’s biography may contain biographical details, and explain the current direction of the artist’s work and how it relates to the portrait submitted.
Curriculum Vitae (CV): The CV can contain brief summaries of education, awards, solo exhibitions, group exhibitions, employment and other relevant information.
File format: Single page PDF document (.pdf) in 10 or 12 point text.
Filename convention: LastnameFirstname.pdf (i.e. WhiteJohn.pdf)
Do not add additional letters, numbers or dashes to your file name.
If you submit a document longer than one (1) page, it will be truncated to comply with the rules.
Your name/address/contact information/artwork information should not appear on the page, as we have it recorded with the form. Instead, use the space for your bio/statement/CV.
Don’t know how to convert your files to the correct format?
See the ‘How To’ information on the Entry Form page for links to helpful websites.
Entries must be received between Wednesday, April 15 and Tuesday, September 1, 2026.
Submission is online only. Paper entries will no longer be accepted.
Entries will be acknowledged by email. If you feel that you have completed the entry process as prescribed and do not receive an acknowledgement, please check your spam folder. If nothing has been received, contact us.
The entry is not considered complete until payment has been made (via PayPal or e-transfer).
Ready to Apply?
Before you begin, please ensure that you have the following ready:
- Image of your work as specified above
- Artist statement/bio/cv as specified above
- $40 non-refundable entry fee (PayPal or e-transfer)
Tips on a successful application:
- Your image is important! Please ensure that your image is of high quality, clear, in focus and well-lit so that the jury may properly assess your work. Read this excellent article on how to photograph your painting ยป
- Make sure that your file is named as required.
- If you are unsure, please ask. Any individual who does not submit the required materials in the proper format may cause their entry to be disqualified.
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If you have submitted your entry and need to get back to the payment page, please use this link.