Art Open Calls: Upcoming Deadlines, Checked at the Source
Most lists of open calls are copied from other lists. A deadline that moved, a fee that appeared, a competition that skipped a year: each copy carries the old version forward, and the artist finds out on the organiser's site, usually after the work has been photographed and the statement written.
This list works the other way. Every entry was read on the organiser's own page, and the date it was checked is shown with it. A competition that announces its call without publishing a deadline or a fee is left out until it does. That keeps the list shorter than most, and it means every line in it can be acted on.
Open calls by deadline
Sorted by closing date. Calls that have closed fold away at the bottom of the table rather than disappearing, so if you arrived looking for one, you can see when it ended.
One winner from one image. Any 2D or 3D medium; AI-generated work is not accepted.
Three categories: a single photograph, a series of three to five, and scientific or medical imaging. Illustration, moving image and AI-generated images are excluded. The prize is named for 2027; entries close in October 2026.
Applications are free; selected work is shown in 22,000 m² of a former iron foundry and an 80,000 m² sculpture park, 5 June – 3 October 2027. Up to ten images per application.
Up to three works per artist. Judged by an international jury; finalists receive diplomas and an evaluation.
Pastel in every form, plus charcoal, chalk and pencil. Selected work hangs at Mall Galleries, 27 January – 6 February 2027.
For photography students, judged on a set theme. The Youth competition, for entrants under 19, closes 5 January 2027.
Single Image closes 5 January 2027 at 16:00 GMT; the Series competition closes a week later, on 12 January 2027.
Deadlines and fees are read from each organiser’s own page on the date shown with the entry. They do change — check the organiser’s site before you prepare an entry.
How to read a deadline
Three things catch artists out more often than the date itself.
- The year in the name is not the year you enter. The Wellcome Photography Prize 2027 and NordArt 2027 both take entries in October 2026. An edition is named for the year it is judged or shown, and its call opens months earlier. Search for "2027 competitions" in the spring of 2027 and many of them will already be closed.
- A deadline has a time and a time zone. The Sony World Photography Awards close at 16:00 GMT; the Pastel Society takes submissions until noon. Treat the day before as your real deadline: upload systems slow down in the last hours, and no organiser extends a call because their server did.
- One competition can have several deadlines. Large awards run their categories on separate clocks. The Sony Student competition closes in November, the Single Image competition on 5 January and the Series competition a week later. Check the date for the category you are entering, not the first date on the page.
What the fee column means
"Free" covers several different arrangements, and the table keeps them apart.
- Free at every stage. The Sony World Photography Awards, the Wellcome Photography Prize and NordArt charge nothing to apply.
- Free to enter, with a fee after selection. Some calls charge only the artists chosen for an exhibition. One Image One Winner asks $15 only of artists invited to its optional curated exhibition; our own Portrait and Figure call asks $25 only of finalists. Find out what that fee covers before you enter, not after you are selected.
- A fee per work. The Pastel Society charges £22 for each work submitted, or £14.50 for artists aged 35 or under, so three works cost three fees. Most established open-submission exhibitions are funded this way, and it is not a warning sign in itself.
What matters is whether money changes the result. A fee for being considered, or for the exhibition and documentation after selection, is a business model; a fee that improves your chances is not a competition. Are Art Competitions Worth It? looks at what a fee does and does not buy.
Online or in person
An online call ends with a page; an in-person one ends with a wall and a delivery. NordArt shows selected work at Kunstwerk Carlshütte in Büdelsdorf, Germany, from June to October 2027, and the Pastel Society exhibition hangs at Mall Galleries in London. If you are selected for either, the work has to reach the venue, so read the delivery and collection terms before you apply. For an artist on another continent, shipping can decide whether a free entry is affordable.
Choosing what to enter
- Check the medium first. The Pastel Society accepts pastel, charcoal, chalk and pencil; the Wellcome Prize excludes illustration and AI-generated images; One Image One Winner does not accept AI-generated work. A strong piece in the wrong medium is not judged at all.
- Enter what fits the brief, not what you most want seen. Jurors set aside off-theme work first; what judges look for explains how the rest is scored.
- Prepare the files once. Most calls ask for images at similar sizes. Photograph the work properly before the first deadline and you can enter several calls from the same set; see how to photograph artwork.
- Photographers have the widest choice. Most of the calls here accept photography, and two accept nothing else. Photography Competitions 2026–2027 covers that field in more depth.
Our own call
One entry in the table is ours, and it is marked as ours. Portrait and Figure is an international juried call run by Curatone.art: entry is free, finalists pay $25, and the winner receives a $100 cash prize, a diploma and a solo online exhibition. It is listed on the same terms as everything else, with its deadline, fee and prize read off its own page. If it has closed by the time you read this, the current call is on the competitions page.
How this list is kept
Each entry carries the date it was last checked against the organiser's page, and entries are re-read as they age. When a date is corrected, it changes everywhere this table appears on the blog. If you find a deadline here that no longer matches the organiser's site, or want to suggest a call, write to info@curatone.art. A call is added once its deadline and fee can be read on the organiser's own page.
Frequently asked questions
What is an open call for artists?
An open call is an invitation from an organiser (a gallery, festival, prize or competition) for any eligible artist to submit work for selection. Unlike an invitation-only show, anyone who meets the stated conditions can apply, and a jury or selection panel chooses the work.
Are these open calls free to enter?
Most of them are free to apply. Some charge only the artists selected for an exhibition, and some established exhibitions, such as the Pastel Society, charge a fee for each work submitted. The fee column in the table shows which applies to each call.
Why does a 2027 competition close in 2026?
Competitions are named for the year they are judged or exhibited, and their calls open months earlier. The Wellcome Photography Prize 2027 and NordArt 2027 both take entries in October 2026.
How up to date is this list?
Each entry shows the date it was last checked on the organiser's own page. The open or closed status is worked out from the deadline every time the page loads, so a call that has closed is never shown as open.
Can I suggest an open call?
Yes. Write to info@curatone.art with a link to the organiser's page. A call is added once its deadline and entry fee are published on the organiser's own site.