Are Art Competitions Necessary?

The Exposure And Prize Money Usually Doesn’t Lead To Fame

One day I read an article of an artist who had won competitions and had her work exhibited in well known galleries. In the art world, this artist is well known. Just after winning a prestigious art competition and despite winning many competitions during her career, she wasn’t financially secure. This was one of the reasons that I chose to take control of my career, was this reason specifically. I thought there must be a better way to promote my art and making a living from it. Around 2010 I tried competitions. In Australia there are two generous art prizes, the Doug Moran Prize and The Archibald Prize. Archibald awards $100k Aud and Doug Moran Prize awards $150k Aud. Both are portrait prizes and the Archibald winner is seen on the evening news. Until the rise of social media, art competitions set the standard for the art world. It was one of the only ways of rising in the art world. However it is important to mention here, it is ultimately the public that makes you a household name, your story and art has to resonate with them. This explains why artists on social media platforms have managed to make a decent living as artists. There are two popular artists in Australia that have become famous without participating in art competitions. Michael Adnate and Hieu. Adnate is a famous street artist and Hieu better known as Kelogsloops is on Instagram where he currently has 1.2 million followers, painting portraits. They both prove that you can have a successful career without rising up the ranks of the art world. This method is harder, instead of hoping to win an art competition that will you give cache in the art world, you are responsible for your career. It isn’t easy, with marketing, website costs and building a profile online, it takes a lot of work. But if you build a brand by yourself, you are known not only to the art world, but to the rest of the world.

The Costs Of Competitions Adds Up

There are different competitions, the only competition I made any inroads in my short years of trying competitions was the Doug Moran Prize. I made it to the Semi Finals, with a portrait that was more landscape painting then portrait. It was my first attempt at painting a portrait. Every country has these kind of large art competitions that are able to give a substantial prize thanks to their donors as they are well established gallery or museum. For these large prizes the hope is likely to find an artist that will in the future be famous, artists may even earn a small amount of money for reaching the finals. Then there are smaller competitions, who for some organisers the competition is a large amount of their revenue for the year. They have small prize pools. Often people start with smaller competitions and work their way up. This is a costly exercise, once people realised there are so many artists that wish to be noticed especially before the rise of social media, smaller art galleries and groups realised they can make a nice amount of money from organising competitions. Even with small competitions there are many people hoping to get noticed. The competition is great for even these little prize that are only a small step up the art world ladder. In this case the organisers of these competitions are getting more out of it, then you would by entering. In comparison having a fellowship at the Guggenheim, is a prestigious position for anyone to aspire to, you gain more having this on your CV. The Guggenheim doesn’t live or die by having a fellowship competition twice per year. There doesn’t seem to be a fee needed. They look at every application before it is given to the board of Trustees for a final say. The cost vs benefit should be part of the decision of entering an art competition.

Your Odds Of Winning Are Small

The open secret of many competitions is that they are precurated, often artists themselves are judging these competitions. Artists or competition organisers may choose their favourites or friends to be finalists. The pool of possible places may be smaller then it seems as galleries have a limit amount of space. Often it is a yes or no situation, your artwork is viewed quickly. It is difficult to be seen amongst everyone else. For the bigger competitions, often the board of trustees are art lovers, but not experts or artists (though often there is one artist on the board for a specified period, usually a previous winner). People are coming in with their own ideas and outlook on what the art prize should aspire for. The bigger the competition the more people you are going against. People who have gone up the ranks and recognized just by there style, by the competition organisers seem more likely to be chosen. You notice the same names. Until artists had other methods of gaining a name for themselves, this was the only way to become a professional artist. I understand the larger art prizes are hoping to buy a future stars artwork. If you are on a trust, that judges the larger art competitions, imagine how exciting it would be to be part of the group of people that discovered the next Van Gogh or Klimt. They want and need to be certain that the artist takes their career seriously. Artists can now show that through other ways.

Artists Have More Choices, You Don’t Need to Start At The Bottom

In 2016, Michael Adnate entered the Doug Moran Prize, his artwork was chosen as a finalist. A year earlier an illustrator won the prize named Warren Crossett. Two people who had not gone up the ranks of the competitions, but made it to the top prizes by having a profile. The art world is showing it is receptive to artists who have chosen to build their rep through social media platforms or other methods. It is changing for artists, that gives us a lot more choice and opportunities. In the long run there will be more competition with these large art prize, but you have a better chance of succeeding, because you are known through other means, if that is the path you took. In the end these large prizes especially are wonderful for your CV and they legitimise you in manner that social media cannot. But in turn if you have built a large following outside the art world, you are changing the way the art world looks at art. Adnate’s art for instance has been seen by many people, the public is getting a voice in the art world. That is makes things more interesting as a result.

Do Competitions For Different Reasons And Without Expectations

I plan to do competitions in the future again. Not for the hope of winning, but for the discipline of making art. I work better with a deadline. In the years I focused on art competitions, I completed many artworks. Some of the competitions forced me to do something, I had never tried previously such as landscape painting. Do not seek approbation from competitions, it can lead to a lot of unhappiness. Especially the smaller competitions, they exist for different reasons, it is not you, but them. Grow your reputation outside the art world and then go for large competitions that add to your cv. It is costly to send artworks especially if you only make it to the semi finals. You cannot put that on a CV, for making a semi final. By growing your rep on social media for instance you are passing in front of so many more people. Making a living from this, is better then winning an art competition, after years of trying all these competitions and being a struggling, unknown artist. If you are not making any finals or winning, if it is too much, take a break and focus on building your reputation. So if you choose to try competitions again in the future, after you have submitted your entry, let it go. Maybe have a budget, this is how many I will do this year, maybe choose the more prestigious prizes. Don’t do it to win, do it for other reasons such as improving your art. No matter what even if you are not chosen as a finalist, you have a finished artwork. When you have enough of artworks, you can make an exhibition, that is what I did after the year of art competitions. I made my own art exhibition, hired a venue and one day I will write about it. At the time I wasn’t on social media it was 2010 after all. Competitions were the start, that led me to having an exhibition, which required me to start a website, I started building my rep from that moment. With competitions you need to look at them unemotionally and be selective if you wish to try them. Take control of your art career and build your art business without relying on hope that competitions will make you an overnight success. They are just one part of the being an artist. If you become a finalist or win, that is just icing on the cake.