All competitions · Prize / award
The Bennett Prize 2027 (Round 5)
The Bennett Prize (Steven Alan Bennett and Dr Elaine Melotti Schmidt, administered with The Pittsburgh Foundation) · Muskegon, Michigan, United States
Biennial $75,000 prize for women figurative realist painters residing in the United States; ten finalists tour in the exhibition 'Rising Voices' opening at Muskegon Museum of Art in 2027. Entries closed 19 September 2026.
Your eligibility
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Who can enter
- Location
- United States (by country of residence)
- Age
- 18 and over
- Career stage
- Emerging, Mid-career
- Mediums
- Painting
- Theme
- figurative realism
- For
- Women artists, Non-binary artists
- Education
- Not open to anyone in full-time education
- Work made
- Within the last 5 years
- Submission
- Online submission
- Also
- Women (including trans and non-binary women) aged 18+ residing at least part-time in the 50 US states or DC; not students during the entry-to-announcement period; not hobbyists; no prior award or sale of $35,000 or more.
About
The Bennett Prize is a biennial award for women figurative realist painters. The fifth round awards a $75,000 grand prize paid over two years ($37,500 annually) to fund a solo exhibition at the Muskegon Museum of Art in 2029, with a $10,000 runner-up award. Ten finalists are selected for a travelling exhibition, 'Rising Voices', opening at Muskegon Museum of Art in May 2027.
Entries opened 13 April 2026 and closed 19 September 2026 (11:59 pm MST) via CaFÉ, with jury notification by 1 November 2026. The $50 fee covers three to five paintings plus one detail image; works must have been completed within the past five years, depict representational figures, and be made primarily with paint on a two-dimensional surface (works painted over photographs are ineligible).
Eligibility: women (trans, cis and non-binary women) aged 18 or over residing at least part-time in the United States with an active studio practice, who are not students during the competition period and have not received an award or sold a work of $35,000 or more.