• CURRENT EXHIBITIONS - Forty, tomorrow is listening and young@heart - open until 8 aug '26

Rules & regulations

Junior Portrait Awards

2026 JUNIOR PORTRAIT AWARD COMPETITION

Rules & Regulations

This competition will be judged anonymously. Participants will be required to submit their entries digitally via the Rust-en-Vrede Gallery website. Artists will be invited to send their selected work to the Rust-en-Vrede Gallery.

  1. The competition is open to all South African High School Learners from the ages of 16 to 18.
  2. Entering the competition is free of charge and each person is limited to one entry.
  3. Your entry should be submitted via the website from 21 April 2026 until 28 April 2026.
  4. The portrait should be of someone you know who has given you permission to use them as a model. Self-portraits and group portraits are allowed. You may only work from life, or photographs that you have taken of the person.
  5. The work must be a two-dimensional portrait on good quality art paper / stretched canvas / canvas board.
  6. Most two-dimensional mediums such as Oil paint, Acrylic paint, Watercolour, Gouache, Charcoal, Graphite, Pencil, Pen, Ink, Chalk pastels, Oil pastels, Markers, Colour pencils and Textiles (Embroidery/Crochet etc) are allowed. Sculptures, photographs, and any other digital art are not allowed to be entered.
  7. A work submitted for the competition must have been created by the entrant, i.e. it must be their original work. All works remain the property of the entrant for the duration of the competition and exhibition unless a work is sold during the exhibition.
  8. All works will be for sale for no more than R1500.
  9. Please follow the size guidelines below:
    • Minimum size: A5 (14,8 x 21cm).  Works smaller than this will be disqualified.
    • Maximum size: A3 (29,7 x 42cm). Works larger than this will be disqualified.
      JPA dimensions 600x315 1
  10. No multiple-part works (i.e. diptychs or triptychs) will be accepted.
  11. THE ENTRANT MAY NOT SIGN OR WRITE HIS OR HER NAME ANYWHERE ON THE WORK. All works will be judged anonymously and any work that is signed or contains any marking identifying the entrant may be disqualified.
  12. Work previously submitted for a competition or exhibited in the public domain, including but not limited to, electronic media such as Instagram, Twitter, Facebook or on a website, may not be entered into this competition.
  13. A copy of your ID should be uploaded on your Digital Entry Form.
  14. The digital entries will be viewed by a panel of judges who will select several works. Those artists will be notified by Rust-en-Vrede Gallery via telephone, email, or WhatsApp by the 14th of May 2026.
  15. The notified artists will then send their work to the Rust-en-Vrede Gallery between the 14th of May and the 5th of June 2026.
  16. The decision of the judges is final. No correspondence will be entered into.
  17. Rust-en-Vrede Gallery reserves the right to disqualify any artwork if the artist has not complied with the above rules as stipulated, even if the work was selected for exhibition.

REQUIREMENTS FROM PARTICIPANTS:

  • 16, 17 or 18 years old
  • Entry Form
  • Copy of ID
  • Picture of Artwork
  • Title, Medium and Size
 

Important Dates:

  • 21 APRIL – 28 APRIL 2026 – ONLINE ENTRIES
  • 5 – 11 MAY 2026 – JUDGING
  • 13, 14 MAY 2026 – NOTIFYING ARTISTS
  • 14 MAY -5 JUNE 2026 – SENDING ARTWORK TO GALLERY
  • 13 JUNE 2026 – EXHIBITION OPENING
  • 11 JULY 2026 – EXHIBITION CLOSING

FURTHER INFORMATION:

Donavan Mynhardt, Tamaryne Bimray or Kelisha Persotham

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About Our Art Classes

Various art classes given by independent tutors. These include Drawing, Painting and Etching.

These classes are designed to encourage interaction between students, tutors, artists and others to create a vibrant ambiance.

Life Drawing with Model

Thursday evenings.

Painting / Mixed Media

Tuesday mornings, afternoons, and evenings; Friday mornings.

Monday mornings.

Mosaic Classes

Kids Art Classes (Primary School)

Wednesday afternoons.