Call for Entries
The 2026 Beautiful Bizarre Art Prize is now accepting entries! Ready to level up your creative career? This is your moment to shine! Showcase your work on a global scale and win big with $76,000 USD in cash and prizes up for grabs. Don’t miss out, enter now!
$76,000 USD in cash & prizes to be won!
The Beautiful Bizarre Art Prize, now in its 9th year, is an annual non-acquisitive international art prize that celebrates diversity and excellence in the representational visual arts. It includes all static mediums including Traditional Art media, Digital Art media, and Photographic media; and all styles including realism, imaginative realism, hyperrealism, surrealism, dark art, pop surrealism, super flat, lowbrow etc.
The Prize seeks to inspire creatives from around the world to pursue a life and career in the arts, and to help careers grow through funding and increased exposure of their work to galleries, collectors and media globally. Enter today!
Giving the practices of representational artists validation and visibility, particularly in the commercial gallery and museum sector where it is still hard to get representation, is what the Beautiful Bizarre Art Prize aims to achieve.
Danijela Krha Purssey, Beautiful Bizarre Magazine Co-Founder & Editor-in-Chief
Artwork above by Jennifer Allnutt, 3rd Prize Winner of the 2025 RAYMAR Painting Award
Why Enter?
Wonder why it’s important to enter the Beautiful Bizarre Art Prize, and how it will benefit your career?
Prize Money
The Beautiful Bizarre Art Prize offers substantial cash prizes to winners, which provides financial support for the artist’s practice. This financial support can help artists to cover costs associated with their practice, such as materials, studio rent, and equipment.
Additionally, prize money also provides artists with the financial flexibility to take risks and pursue new projects, without the need to worry about the financial implications. This can allow artists to focus on their practice without the added stress of financial insecurity.
Global Exposure
By participating in the Beautiful Bizarre Art Prize, artists have the opportunity to present their work to a diverse group of individuals, including art professionals, collectors, critics, and the general public. This leads to increased visibility and exposure for the artist and their work on an international scale.
It can also bring attention to an artist’s practice from art galleries, curators, and other institutions, which can lead to further opportunities for exhibitions, commissions, and collaborations.
Recognition & Career Development
Being selected by a panel of judges, who are industry professionals and experts, is an acknowledgement of the quality and merit of an artist’s work. It is also an endorsement of an artist’s practice and vision, providing validation for the artist’s choices and direction – plus, it is a great addition to an artist’s CV and can help them to build a reputation and credibility within the art world.
Winning or being selected as a finalist can also lead to greater opportunities for career development, such as solo exhibitions, participating in art fairs, commissions, and collaborations.
Invest in yourself
Entering the Beautiful Bizarre Art Prize is a great way for artists to invest in themselves in a cost effective way.
By entering the Beautiful Bizarre Art Prize, artists are investing in their own reputation and credibility within the art world.
The Beautiful Bizarre Art Prize also offers a range of opportunities for exposure, such as through editorial and advertising in Beautiful Bizarre Magazine, the magazine & Art Prize websites, and our social media channels [with over 2M followers], which can help artists to reach a wider audience and promote their work. This can be particularly beneficial for artists who may not have the resources to invest in other forms of marketing.
Networking
Participating in the Beautiful Bizarre Art Prize provides an opportunity for artists to meet and connect with the Editor-in-Chief of Beautiful Bizarre Magazine and other art professionals such as gallerists, curators, and collectors at the Art Prize exhibition.
These connections can lead to future opportunities for exhibitions, commissions, and collaborations, as well as provide valuable support and resources for artists.
Build your Collector Base
The Beautiful Bizarre Art Prize attracts a diverse group of collectors from around the world. By participating, artists have the opportunity to connect with these collectors and showcase their work to a wider audience. This can lead to increased interest in an artist’s work and can help to build a collector base.
The Beautiful Bizarre Art Prize exhibition also provides an opportunity for artists to meet and connect with collectors in person. These personal connections can be valuable in building a collector base, as collectors are more likely to purchase work from an artist they have met and have a personal connection with.
For a full a list of prizes, including cash, products, advertising and services that will help your practice grow, please visit the Prizes page.
2026 Beautiful Bizarre Art Prize Award Categories
You can now enter into one of seven award categories: Digital Art Award, Photography Award, Painting Award, Drawing Award, Sculpture Award, Imaginative Realism Award, and Emerging Artist Award. Artists working across mediums are welcome to enter more than one award category. From the Finalists selected in each award category, a Grand Prize Award Winner will be chosen by the Jury Panel. The People’s Choice Award will then open for public voting on 2 September 2026.
Click the below award headings to see the full list of prizes, and to find out more about each award.
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Catherine K. Gyllerstrom Imaginative Realism Award
Painting, drawing or three dimensional traditional medium – with a focus on imaginative realism
$5,000 USD cash + prizes
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Art & Fable Puzzle Company People’s Choice Award
Chosen by public vote from the Finalists
$1,000 USD cash + prizes
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Beautiful Bizarre Art Prize
Testimonials
Competitions can help you find your place and promote your work, and for artists who feel out of place elsewhere, it’s a good choice to take part.
This experience has been incredibly rewarding for me. Everyone at Beautiful Bizarre is so kind and it truly felt like coming home to a community where I belong. So many opportunities have come from it: I’ve been invited to group shows, galleries have noticed my work, I’ve connected with many talented artists and I’m now part of the Beautiful Bizarre Artist Directory.
Most importantly, it’s been a huge boost to my self-esteem. As artists, we often doubt ourselves and our art, so receiving external validation like this feels really good. It reassured me that what I create has value.
I’m somewhat new to Instagram and perhaps a bit late to the party. I was feeling that just posting my work to my page was not going to get me where I need to be. I come across an add for the contest and thought “why not?’ I feel that I needed a lift from someone with influence. I was also impressed at how quickly my painting sold at the exhibition!
I urge all artists who are considering submitting their work to this prize to overcome any apprehensions, and dive into the waters of this marvelous opportunity to elevate your global awareness and cultivate new art collectors that will get to see your work and seek to acquire it. I am forever grateful to the Beautiful Bizarre Art Prize and the Beautiful Bizarre Magazine community for offering artists all over the world such a substantial chance to be seen, recognized, and honored in a way that truly puts the artist first—a rare thing in the world of art competitions.
They take nothing from you and give you everything—impactfully changing the course of an artist’s life and the course of art prize competitions worldwide.
This recognition has given us a powerful impulse to further develop our shared artistic practice as a duo, strengthening our motivation and confidence to continue working together and exploring new directions.
I guess what I am trying to say is, other people often view your work through a lens so different to your own that what you yourself consider flawed, they see shining bright.
As a self-taught artist with no formal connections to the art world, navigating the journey as a full-time artist has been incredibly challenging. For many years, opportunities were few, and it took me a long time to find my voice and direction through my Woman in the Bath series. Winning this award not only validated my work but also opened up a world of possibilities.
One of the most impactful aspects of the award was the paint sponsorship. Transitioning from acrylics to oil painting had always been a dream of mine, but I couldn’t afford it. Thanks to the prize, I’ve been able to fully embrace oil paints, which have improved my process and brought new depth to my work.
The Beautiful Bizarre community has been incredible—I’ve made meaningful connections with other artists and felt truly supported.
Winning the Beautiful Bizarre Art Prize has completely changed my life, and I would wholeheartedly encourage other artists to enter. You never know how it might transform your path.
Entry fee is US$40 to cover administrative costs. If you have any questions about the Beautiful Bizarre Art Prize, please don’t hesitate to contact us at artprize@beautifulbizarre.net.
The Beautiful Bizarre Art Prize is administered by Australian based, international contemporary art magazine, Beautiful Bizarre Magazine.
Entries Open:11 February 2026
Entries Close: Midnight 17 July 2026 [Los Angeles, USA time]
Top artwork: “Deep” by 2025 1st Prize Winner of the Victoria Olt Gallery Drawing Award, Brain Bailey