Streamline Publishing, Inc. (PleinAir / Fine Art Connoisseur)
Monthly and annual online art prize for original 2D painting and drawing, with $65,000 USD in total cash prizes and magazine coverage.
The 16th Annual Salon Art Prize is an international online competition celebrating traditional 2D painting and drawing. Running across 11 monthly cycles from April to February, it culminates in an Annual Competition with winners announced in May.
This is a traditional media-only competition — photography, digital art, AI-generated work, and 3D art are not eligible. All entries must be original compositions based on your own reference material, and painted entirely by the entering artist.
Entry Fees
Early Bird (1st–15th of each month): First entry $29 USD, additional entries $12 USD each.
Regular (16th–month end): First entry $40 USD, additional entries $16 USD each.
Paintings entered across multiple categories require a separate fee per category. All fees are non-refundable.
Categories & Limits
There are 19 categories to enter, including dedicated Plein Air categories (which require work completed 100% on location). You may submit up to 25 entries per monthly competition. Entering multiple categories can increase your chances.
Judging
All judging is blind — judges see only the painting, title, and medium, never the artist's name. Guest judges include prominent artists, gallery owners, and museum curators. Monthly finalists are announced one week before the awards, with winners revealed on the last day of the following month.
Awards
Each monthly cycle awards one Winner and one Honourable Mention per category, plus three overall awards. All monthly category winners automatically become Semi-Finalists in the Annual Competition. The top 25 Annual Finalists are invited to the Plein Air Convention & Expo, where the Grand Prize is announced live.
Total prize pool is $65,000 USD — $24,750 across monthly awards and $41,250 in annual awards. The Grand Prize winner receives $15,000 USD and a potential cover feature on PleinAir or Fine Art Connoisseur Magazine. Note: Grand Prize can only be won once per artist.
Entries are submitted via ShowSubmit.com (free to register). Older and sold works are accepted since this is an online-only competition.
