Open Call | AIB Young Portrait Prize 2024 | National Gallery of Ireland

The entry form is available to download here: 

• AIB Young Portrait Prize 2024 Entry Form – English version
• AIB Young Portrait Prize 2024 Entry Form – Irish version

The brief:

• Create a portrait of someone you know. You could choose a friend, a family member, your teacher, or even yourself!
• Paintings, drawings, photographs, collages, sculpture and videos are all welcome.
• You can enter through your school or by yourself.
• Have fun and enjoy the process!

Age categories:

Young people of all abilities are invited to take part. Prizes will be awarded to one overall winner, plus one winner from each age category:

• 6 years and under
• 7  – 11 years
• 12 – 15 years
• 16 – 18 years

Entry form:

• Download the AIB Young Portrait Prize entry form here
• You must complete the full entry form. If you need help filling in the form, please ask your parent/guardian/teacher, as we cannot accept incomplete entry forms. If you need the form in an alternative format, please email [email protected].

How to submit your portrait:

Step 1: Read the competition rulesand frequently asked questions.

Step 2: Download the entry form, and complete it in full. If you need help filling in the form, please ask your parent/guardian/teacher, as we cannot accept incomplete entry forms. If you need the form in an alternative format, please email [email protected]

Step 3: If your portrait is 2D or 3D, you need to take a digital photograph of it.

• This photograph must be clear and include the portrait only. Your portrait will be judged based on the image you send to us!
• Make sure it is taken with a good-quality camera phone or digital SLR camera.
• Photograph your portrait in good light (natural day light is best), and make sure there is nothing blocking your portrait.
• Avoid using filters on your camera – the photograph should represent the real thing!
• Try hanging your portrait on a wall – this will help you achieve a good representation of your artwork.
• If it is a three-dimensional portrait take a picture from three different angles. Make sure you clear some floor space or a table to do this.
• See good and bad examples of photos of artworks in the competition rules and guidelines.

Step 4: Email your completed application form to [email protected]. If your portrait is 2D or 3D, you must attach the image(s) to the same email. If your portrait is a video or audio, you need to send it via the file-sharing service WeTransfer to [email protected]. Use your own name for the title of the video/audio file. You also need to email your completed application form to [email protected].

Deadline to enter:

• Don’t forget! You must enter before 21 June 2024 at 10pm (Ireland time).
• Best of luck to everyone entering the competition!

What happens after you submit your entry to the AIB Young Portrait Prize?

• An expert panel of external judges will choose a shortlist of 20 portraits which will be displayed in a special exhibition in the National Gallery of Ireland.
• The shortlisted portraits will be prepared for exhibition by the Gallery’s expert team of technicians. This means they will be professionally framed or made display-ready in a way that suits the portrait.
• The AIB Young Portrait Prize 2024 exhibition will open in the Gallery on 9 November 2024 and close on 9 March 2025.
• The judges will choose five winners from the shortlisted portraits in the exhibition: one overall winner, plus four highly commended entrants, one from each age category:
  • 6 years and under
  • 7 – 11 years
  • 12 – 15 years
  • 16 – 18 years

Prizes

The five winners will each receive a personalised art-material box, specific to their choice of material in their portraits, and a cash prize. All twenty shortlisted entrants will also come away with a professionally framed/prepared artwork.

An exhibition sponsored by AIB Insurance plc, organised by the National Gallery of Ireland.