Entering Art Competitions Is Worth It

Chantalle Grummet

If you are an artist, wanting to be an artist or creative and wanting to exhibit then entering art competitions is a great way to boost your career. It is a really affordable way to market yourself and your art. Being an art contestant comes with perks that are built in to the competition framework. If your art is inspiring the organisers may use it to promote the competition. Social media accounts, art newsletters, websites, and editorials in newspapers are some of the possibilities that could occur if you get in. Hanging in a space with other artists who may be further along in their careers and well known could get your art seen by a gallery owner, art collector or other art world gate keepers.

Even entering and not getting in gets you somewhere. Curated art competitions or awards are judged by high calibre artists or curators and your art will be seen by them. Your focus in creating to get in to a competition shifts from how you normally operate even if you don’t get selected. Your mind and thinking is altered because you are viewing your work through the eyes of another. You are now thinking about how your work will be viewed and this changes your perspective on your own work. This new perspective is what can change and elevate your work to the next level, which is an awesome goal regardless of success in the competition.

The organisers of competitions are creating opportunities for sale of art, future art business and promoting art in the wider community, not just the art community. Your entry fee lets them advertise, hire space, hire curators, catering and award the artists. It is also self empowering because by entering you show a belief in your work which then gets you opportunities to reach others with your work. You are supporting the art community by entering and counting yourself as part of that community at the same time. Researching the competitions that you enter is recommended because each art competition has a different community and art cohort that it is built around. For example the Minnawarra Art Awards and Lester Art Prize are contemporary arts themed, high end (or internationally recognised) art market based and target different viewers than a community art awards such as Rockingham, Melville or Gosnells Art Awards which are more about local artists, local consumers and art collectors.

Some of the art awards coming up that you can enter right now are The Minnawarra Art Awards (entries close 13^th March), The Lester Prize (entries open 27^th February), Beverley Art Prize (entries close 15^th March). It is an important part of being an artist to learn about your own voice in the art world. Enter a few competitions and you will learn about where you fit in and what is important to you in your creative journey. A brilliant article by Beautiful Bizarre Magazine inspired the positive outlook in this blog, for more details on the benefits and the amazing bizarre art world it represents check it out yourself.