Art Competitions for Minneapolis Artists – Fall 2026
Fall is a good moment to take stock: the Minnesota plein air season is wrapping up, several major national competitions are between cycles, and a few genuinely good opportunities for emerging and veteran artists alike are opening right now. Whether you paint in the studio, work en plein air, or somewhere in between, here’s what’s worth your attention going into winter.
As always, if you need professional photos of your artwork to meet a competition’s submission requirements, just let me know which show you’re targeting. I’ll provide image files that match their exact specs: resolution, color space, file format, dimensions, all taken care of. You make the art; I’ll make sure it looks its best in the submission.
Many of the artists I’ve worked with have gone on to win major national and international awards, including James Vose, Steven J Levin, Mary Pettis, Andrew Sjodin, Patty Voje, and Susan Steging Cook.
⚡ Open Right Now – Fall 2026 Deadlines to Know About
NOAPS Fall International Online Exhibition
Entry Deadline: October 19, 2026 | Online
Open to both National Oil & Acrylic Painters’ Society members and non-members working in oil or acrylic. Two hundred artworks are accepted into the show, with awards including a $1,000 Best of Show. No membership required, which makes this one of the more accessible national exhibitions on this list.
Artists to Watch (Ages 16+)
Entry Window: Opens mid-October 2026 (est., based on last year’s October 10 opening) | Online
Artists Magazine’s competition built specifically for emerging artists: students, newer painters, and anyone early in their journey. Artists who’ve already won major national or international awards aren’t eligible, which makes this one of the few competitions genuinely designed for a first real win rather than another line on an established resume. Super Early Bird pricing is typically available through mid-December.
Artists Network Competitions website
Over 60 Art Competition – 20th Annual
Final Deadline: October 30, 2026 | Online
New to this list: Artists Magazine’s competition recognizing painters age 60 and older, whether you’ve painted professionally for decades or kept it going as a lifelong sideline. Top ten winners receive a $250 cash award and publication in the May/June 2027 issue.
Over 60 Art Competition website
AcrylicWorks 14: The Best of Acrylic
Super Early Bird Deadline: October 25, 2026 | Final Deadline: February 28, 2027 | Online
Also new to this list: Artists Network’s annual competition for acrylic painters. Top three winners receive cash prizes ($2,000/$1,000/$500) plus an in-depth profile in a special Best of Acrylic publication; ten Honorable Mention winners get a $50 gift card and a one-year membership. Entering before October 25 gets the lowest entry fee.
Salon Art Prize – 16th Annual (formerly PleinAir Salon)
Monthly deadlines through March 2027 | Grand Prizes announced May 2027 | Online
Two $15,000 Grand Prizes this year, one for the cover of PleinAir Magazine and one for Fine Art Connoisseur Magazine, for a total annual prize pool over $65,000. Despite the name, all painting styles and subjects qualify, not just plein air. Monthly deadlines fall at the end of each month, and monthly winners are automatically entered into the Annual Competition.
🏆 National Competitions Opening in the Next Few Months
Several major competitions are between cycles right now. Rather than leave these off the list, here’s what to expect based on recent years. Check each website closer to the date for the confirmed 2027 prospectus.
New Salem Museum & Academy (NSMA) International Painting Competition
Entry Deadline: Expected January–February 2027 (est.) | New Salem, MA
One of the highest-value prizes on this list: a $35,000 Acquisition Award (plus a $5,000 Small Work Acquisition Award and two $2,500 prizes) for contemporary realist painting in any medium: oil, watercolor, acrylic, gouache, tempera. The winning painting joins NSMA’s permanent collection, and the grand prize is chosen by the finalists themselves through a ranked-choice vote at the gala.
Art Renewal Center (ARC) Salon – 20th International Competition
Entry Window: Expected to open ~March 2027, deadline ~June 2027 (est.) | Online + International Exhibitions
The largest competition in the world for representational realist painters, with over $130,000 in cash awards and international recognition through partnerships with major galleries, museums, and publications. Categories include Figurative, Portraiture, Imaginative Realism, Drawing, Landscape, Still Life, Plein Air, Animals, Sculpture, and a Teen category.
Art Renewal Center (ARC) Salon website
Artists Magazine 44th Annual Art Competition
Entry Window: Expected to open ~February 2027 (est.) | Online
A well-respected national competition with $17,500 in cash prizes across five categories: Landscape/Cityscape, Animal & Wildlife, Still Life & Interior, Portrait & Figure, and Abstract & Experimental. Winners and honorable mentions are featured in the Jan/Feb issue of Artists Magazine the following year.
Artists Magazine Annual Art Competition website
Oil Painters of America (OPA) – 36th National Exhibition
Entry Deadline: Expected winter 2026 into early 2027 (est., recent years have landed between January and March) | Location TBD
OPA’s flagship national show, open to OPA members residing in North America. Historically around $100,000 in cash and merchandise awards, including a $25,000 Best in Show. Membership is $80/year.
Oil Painters of America exhibitions website
NOAPS – Best of America, 37th National Exhibition
Application Window: Expected ~April–July 2027 (est.) | Location TBD
NOAPS members only, with over $35,000 in cash and sponsor awards. Max size 1,200 square inches excluding frame. The 36th edition just wrapped its exhibition in September 2026, and the 37th cycle’s dates weren’t posted yet at the time of this update.
Minted Design Challenges
Rolling competitions year-round | Online (minted.com)
A little different from a traditional juried show: Minted runs design challenges where community votes and expert curation select winners. Winners receive a $200 cash prize and their designs are sold as fine art prints, stationery, and home goods, with 6–10% royalties on all sales. Minted handles production, fulfillment, and customer service entirely.
Minted Design Challenges website
🎨 Minnesota Art Competitions
Minnesota State Fair Fine Arts Competition
2026 Exhibition: Completed (ran August 27 – September 7) | Next Registration: Expected ~May 2027 (est.)
Minnesota’s largest juried art exhibition has wrapped for the year, with over 300 pieces selected from thousands of submissions across the state. If you didn’t make it in this time, registration for next year’s show has typically opened in early May. Worth setting a reminder now.
Minnesota State Fair Fine Arts Competition website
Plein Air Grand Marais
2026 dates: September 11–19 (completed) | 2027 dates not yet posted
One of the best events on Minnesota’s North Shore, running since 2008, with over $7,000 in awards across Competition and Open classes. Organized by Outdoor Painters of Minnesota. Check back in late winter for next year’s dates.
Plein Air Grand Marais website
Prairie Lakes Plein Air
2027 dates not yet posted | Otter Tail County, MN
Art education, exhibition, and competition in the lakes country of West-Central Minnesota, open to artists of all skill levels.
Prairie Lakes Plein Air website
Red Wing Arts Plein Air
2027 dates not yet posted | Red Wing, MN
Twenty years running as of 2026. Artists paint recognizable scenes around Red Wing and along the Mississippi River bluffs.
Red Wing Arts Plein Air website
Into Nature Plein Air Competition
2027 dates not yet posted | White Bear Lake, MN
Open to all experience levels, a low-pressure entry point for painters who want their first competition experience. All accepted artwork is displayed in the Ford Family Gallery.
Into Nature Plein Air Competition website
🖌️ Midwest Plein Air – Still Ahead This Fall
Most of the region’s summer plein air season has wrapped, but two events are still coming up before the year turns:
- Waukesha Plein Air Competition: Week of October 3, 2026, Waukesha, WI
- Paint the Towns in Fall Color: October 12–19, 2026, Plymouth, WI. Fall color timing makes this one of the better-looking backdrops of the season
Everything else on last season’s Midwest circuit (Evanston, Door County, Plein Air at the Fair, the Iowa Plein Air Competition, and Fairfield PaintOut) has wrapped for 2026. Check back next spring as 2027 dates are announced.
Worth Planning for Now: Plein Air, A Paint Cedarburg Event
Event Dates: June 5–12, 2027 | Registration Opens: January 15, 2027 | Cedarburg, WI
Wisconsin’s largest plein air gathering, non-juried and open to artists of any skill level, with over $8,500 in prizes across several award categories. This one is worth flagging months ahead of the actual event: registration is capped at the first 165 artists, not a deadline, so it’s genuinely first-come-first-served starting January 15. If you want in, mark that date rather than the event date.
Plein Air: A Paint Cedarburg Event website
🎯 Pro Tips for Entering Art Competitions (and What Makes a Strong Jury Image)
Submitting your work to juried exhibitions can be exciting and a little intimidating. A few things consistently separate successful entries from the ones that don’t make it through, and several of them come down to the photo itself, not the painting.
Why Your Jury Image Matters More Than You Think
For an online submission, the juror never sees your actual painting. They see a file on a screen. That file is your entry, in every practical sense, not a stand-in for it. A juror moving through hundreds of entries forms an impression in seconds, and whatever the photo gets wrong reads as a flaw in the painting itself, not in the photo.
What Jurors Notice First, Whether or Not They Name It
Color accuracy and even lighting register almost instantly, even to someone moving fast through a queue. A slightly warm cast, a hot spot in one corner, or a shadow along one edge changes how the whole piece reads, and it happens below the level of a juror consciously thinking “the lighting is uneven.” They just move on.
The Mistakes That Show Up Most Often
A few problems come up again and again in competition submissions: glare across a varnished passage that reads as a blown-out patch of white, a color shift that mutes or oversaturates part of the painting, and keystoning, a subtle trapezoidal distortion from a camera that wasn’t quite square to the canvas, that skews the proportions just enough to look faintly, unaccountably off.
Consistency Matters When You’re Submitting More Than One Piece
If a competition allows multiple entries, jurors often see your work as a set. Images shot at different times, in different light, or with a different camera can make a genuinely consistent body of work look uneven, not because the paintings vary, but because the photography does. That inconsistency reads as the artist’s, even when the actual cause was several different photo sessions over the years.
Follow the Rules Exactly
Every competition has specific requirements for file size, resolution, color space, dimensions, framing, and labeling. Submitting the wrong format, even with excellent work, can get your entry disqualified before a juror ever sees it.
Submit Your Strongest, Most Cohesive Work
If you’re submitting multiple pieces, choose ones that feel like they belong together, even across different subjects. Think about what impression they create as a group.
Don’t Wait Until Deadline Day
Slow servers, forgotten login passwords, last-minute file issues: it all happens. Give yourself a few days of buffer, especially for major shows.
Keep a Submission Log
Track where you’ve submitted each piece, what images you used, and the results. Patterns emerge over time: which shows are a good fit, which aren’t, how your acceptance rate is trending.
Rejection Is Just Part of the Process
Even the most decorated artists get turned down regularly. A rejection doesn’t mean the work isn’t good. It means it wasn’t the right fit for that particular show that year. Keep making work and keep entering.
Know of a competition I should add to this list? Send it my way. I’m always looking to help artists find the right opportunities.
Note: Several 2027 competition dates are estimated based on prior years’ cycles and hadn’t been officially announced at the time of this update. Check each organization’s website for the confirmed prospectus before entering.
Featured painting on this article: Simple Entreaties by James Vose
Featured painting on this article: Simple Entreaties by James Vose