Open Call: Colors 2026
International Juried Exhibition by Curatone.art
Free Submission | $100 Cash Prize + Solo Exhibition | Published on Amazon & CERN/Zenodo
Color is the first thing we see — and the last thing we forget. It whispers calm or screams urgency. It carries memory, culture, emotion, and identity in a single brushstroke.
Color is an international art competition that celebrates the power of color as a creative force. Whether you work with bold saturation or quiet monochrome, whether color is your subject or your tool, we want to see how it shapes your vision. A fiery red that holds anger and love at once. The weight of black. The silence of white. The greens you saw as a child that no photograph could capture.
We invite you to interpret "Color" in any way that resonates with your practice. Any medium. Any style. Any country.
What You Receive as a Finalist
Your submission is free. If your work is selected by our international jury, a one-time finalist fee of $25 covers:
Institutional Publication & Indexing
Global Academic Record: Your work and project details will be archived in the open-science repository Zenodo (operated by CERN) with a permanent, lifelong DOI (Digital Object Identifier).
International Catalog: Publication in a professionally designed exhibition catalog available worldwide on Amazon (with an official ISBN).
German Serials Indexing: Registered under our permanent series ISSN 3054-6621 and indexed in the German Union Catalogue of Serials (ZDB).
Online Showcase: Your work beautifully displayed in our international online gallery with a permanent page in our digital archive.
Professional Documentation
Official Finalist Diploma with full international jury credentials.
Certificate of Participation in an international juried exhibition with a detailed jury evaluation protocol.
Recognition & Opportunities
Featured Artist profile on curatone.art (top 3 finalists).
Priority invitation to become a Peer Reviewer for our ISSN-registered journal.
Grand Prize
The winner receives:
$100 cash
Winner's Diploma
A free Solo Exhibition on Curatone.art — a dedicated, permanent feature page showcasing your works, artist bio, and an exclusive interview published on our platform.
You pay nothing unless our jury selects your work.
How It Works
Submit for free: Upload up to 3 artworks. No registration, no account, no entry fee. Takes under 5 minutes.
Expert jury review: Every artwork is scored independently on a 10-point scale by international professionals. Jury members conduct blind reviews and do not see each other's scores.
Get selected: Finalists are notified by email. A $25 finalist fee covers exhibition hosting, global catalog publication, permanent DOI registration, and all documentation.
Results & prizes: The Grand Prize winner receives $100 cash. All finalists receive their diplomas, evaluation protocols, and publication features.
Professional Jury Panel
Each artwork is reviewed by members of our international Jury Board — award-winning artists, curators, and art directors from New York, Berlin, Toronto, and beyond. Jury members include recipients of Red Dot, Graphis, A' Design, MUSE, and Leonardo da Vinci awards, as well as jurors for the Genoa Biennale and Apexart.
From Our Previous Competitions
"My experience with Curatone.art was exciting and very professional. I feel like my art was represented well and the jurying process was rigorous. I am honored to have won the Colors contest and will put it on my CV with pride."
— Amanda Flores, Winner of Colors 2025
"I'm honored and grateful to have been selected as a winner. Curatone.art offers a wonderful community for artists, and participating in this competition has been a very positive experience."
— Meryem Berrada, Winner of Moments of Life 2025
Key Details
Parameter | Details |
Theme | Color — the power of color as emotion, identity, memory, and creative force |
Who can enter | Artists worldwide, any medium, any level |
Submission fee | Free |
Finalist fee | $25 (only if selected by the jury) |
Grand Prize | $100 cash + Winner's Diploma + Personal Solo Exhibition |
Deadline | September 5, 2026 |
Jury Scoring Phase | September 8 – September 16, 2026 |
Results | September 20, 2026 |
Max artworks | 3 per artist |
Image format | JPEG, max 4 MB |
Also from Curatone.art
Publish in Our Peer-Reviewed Journal: Curatone Art & Research Journal (ISSN 3054-6621) publishes academic articles and visual essays on contemporary art and design. All submissions undergo peer review by our international Editorial Board.
Become a Jury Member: Join our panel of international experts. Review artworks, build your institutional credentials, and receive official judging documentation.
Become a Peer Reviewer: Review scholarly articles for our ISSN-registered journal. Strengthen your professional profile with certified peer reviewer credentials.
Ready?
Questions? Contact our team at info@curatone.art
Enter the Competition
originality of the idea and artistic vision,
quality of execution,
relevance to the contest theme.
Evaluation Criteria
Awards
Image should not exceed 4MB.
Image must be in JPEG format.
Image should be clear and in focus, as it represents your work and will be displayed and judged exactly as received.
Image Requirements
Selection Process
The selection process is fair and transparent. Every work is scored by our Expert Jury on a 10-point scale. To ensure objectivity, jury members vote individually and do not see each other’s scores. The final winners are selected based on the arithmetic mean of all scores. This independent evaluation guarantees that only the best professional works are included in our exhibition and catalog.
Professional Jury Panel
Each artwork will be thoughtfully reviewed by a distinguished panel of art world professionals — including award-winning artists, curators, art directors, jurors of international competitions, honorable members of global art organizations, and renowned cultural figures with decades of experience.
Participate
Digital Exhibition Catalog
A professionally designed, magazine-style digital catalog featuring all selected artists. The catalog presents each artist’s profile in a curated editorial format and remains permanently published on our website. It continues to circulate beyond the exhibition through sharing by participating artists, collectors, and art professionals.
Participate
"My experience with Curatone.art was exciting and very professional. I feel like my art was represented well and the jurying process was rigorous. I am honored to have won the Colors contest and will put it on my CV with pride. "
Amanda Flores, artist
Winner of the Colors 2025 contest
By submitting to a Curatone.art competition or exhibition, you confirm that the artwork is your own original creation and does not infringe on any copyrights. Curatone.art is not responsible for any copyright issues that may arise during the jury process or while the work is displayed.
By entering, you grant Curatone.art the right to use your submitted images for promotional purposes, including our website, social media, and online exhibitions.
The artist retains full ownership and copyright of their work.
You may resubmit previously entered works that were not selected, or any winning piece, in future Curatone.art open calls.
Frequently Asked Questions
Find answers to common queries.
How do I enter a contest?
What are the judging criteria?
Can I submit more than one artwork?
Is there a fee to participate?