ARC Salon Competition Rules
Thank you for your interest in the International ARC Salon Competition. Below is the important information pertaining to entering the ARC Salon. Much of this information is also visible as you are filling out your application, during the application process. All entries must be submitted by June 30th, 2022 11:59 PM (Pacific Standard Time). Artists may enter and win in one or multiple categories. The competition is open to all those who wish to apply worldwide. There is no limit to the number of artworks you may enter. Works do NOT need to be available for sale. Works do NOT need to be available for the live exhibition to compete and win. All semi-finalists will be published on the Art Renewal Center® website. All finalists, winners, and honorable mentions will be published on both the Art Renewal Center® Website and in the 16th ARC Salon book, International Realism. Images of all winners and honorable mentions will also be included in the Lunar Codex, "Polaris Collection" and sent to the moon. A list of the semi-finalist artists and works for the 16th ARC Salon Competition will be posted on September 19th, 2022. A list of the finalists will be posted on November 1st, 2022. Winners will be posted on January 2nd, 2023. Please contact kara.ross@artrenewal.org if you have additional questions or concerns.
Artwork
All entries must be original artwork, conceived and created by the entrant within the past 3 years. Works need to be original works of art and not copies of works by other artists. Painted over prints or drawings over prints are not acceptable in any category and are a direct violation of the rules of the competition. At this time, we do not accept etchings, photography, or other forms of prints whatsoever, nor do we accept digital art or art with digital elements. This is a competition for fine quality representational based works of art, no modernist works such as abstract expressionism will be accepted. Representational work in all styles spanning from highly realistic to impressionistic to imaginative qualify. ARC reserves the right to eliminate works if it feels the method of creation is in question. If the work is in question, we will always do our best to contact and discuss the technique used with the artist before any disqualifications are made. If you have questions on what types of works are accepted into the ARC Salon, please peruse previous year's results or write to the e-mail address above.
Teens Category
Although all other categories in the competition are intended for adults, this category is devoted to young aspiring artists between 13 – 19 years of age. Works created during this age range are also acceptable, so long as the artist is no older then 20 years of age at the time of entry. The Teens Category is intended as a separate competition for students in this age range. These works competing in the Teens Category do not compete in the other ARC Salon categories or for the other awards associated to the rest of the competition. We do however invite the top winners of the Teens Category to participate in the ARC Salon Exhibition and award 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place cash award prizes as well as eight honorable mentions. Winners in the Teens Category will also be included in the Lunar Codex. Please note that in the Teens Category, we do also publish the name of the entrant's school and the name of their primary art instructor. If you have questions or concerns about this please contact kara.ross@artrenewal.org. If an individual within this age range wishes to compete in the other categories of the ARC Salon, they may do so, but should enter as a regular artist and not as a student.
Medium
Acceptable mediums include: oil, pastel, watercolor, graphite, acrylic paints, charcoal, clay, bronze, stone, marble and /or travertine, plaster, resin, scratch-board, gold-point, silver-point, ink, colored pencils, gouache, tempera and all traditional mediums. Fine quality realistic renderings in mosaic are also acceptable. If it is not a sculpture, please indicate not only the medium, but also the surface it is created on; that being paper, canvas, copper, board, panel or the like. If you have a question about the medium or feel we have left out a medium from this list, please contact us at the e-mail address above.
Images
Images of your artwork must be uploaded directly through the ARC website. Image files should be between 1 MB and 15 MB in size and be in a JPG or PNG format. Glass slides, images on CDs and large format transparencies will not be accepted. Multiple images of the work can be uploaded to each entry if desired, but please be sure if you are uploading images of different works of art, that you are creating a separate entry for each unique work. Only one image is required for entry for all non-sculpture works. If you are entering a sculpture, a minimum of two images are required at two different view angles. Please submit good quality images of your work. Make sure they are not blurry. Jurors need to be able to view the details of the work. If you do not feel you have a good enough high resolution image of the work as a whole where details can be seen when magnified, please supply a detail as well as the full image. If jurors are having difficulty properly viewing the submission, additional images or details may be requested. Please crop out anything that is not part of the artwork from the primary image submitted. Additional views of the work that are submitted to show the size of the work or include an image of the artist standing with the work and/or how the work is framed are fine as supplemental images, but for the primary image, there should be no easels or frames showing. Do not make digital alterations to your photos. Basic color adjustment to try and match color and contrast to the original work is acceptable, but the image you submit needs to be as close as possible to the original work of art as viewed in person. Do not digitally remove damage that has occurred to the original work of art, do not adjust contours, erase lines or alter the composition, do not add logos or digital signatures to the images of the work. These are violations to the competition rules. In the case of sculptures, do not digitally replace the background with photos of landscapes or other settings. The photo should either have a solid black, white or gray background, a solid color cloth backdrop or be a photo of the actual installation where the work is being displayed. Images of the sculpture in the artist's studio are also acceptable. If you have a technical problem submitting your entry, please contact our Webmaster, Iian Neill, for assistance at webmaster@artrenewal.org.
Fees
First entry: $89.00 (includes free copy of the 16th ARC Salon book if shipping is paid at checkout. This book is a 300 plus page hard bound book that will retail at $65 - $75)
Additional entries: $68.00
Entering the same work in an additional category is $48.00 per additional category.
For students 13-19 years of age competing in the Teen Category, the fee is $25. If you are attending a Title 1 school and the fee is a barrier to entry, please write to yvette.lytle@artrenewal.org. These works compete only in the Teen Category and do not compete against the works entered into the other categories of the competition.
With the exception of works competing in the Teen Category, a free copy of the ARC Salon Catalog is included with your first entry. To receive your free copy, the additional cost for shipping must be paid at checkout. Teens entering the Teen Category are welcome to pre-order a copy of the book at a special pre-order price.
Additional Information
By submitting your entry, you grant irrevocable permission (limited-copyrights) to the Art Renewal Center® to reproduce your artwork entered into the ARC Salon on the ARC website and in promotional materials, including but not limited to the ARC Salon Book, DVDs, articles and advertisements promoting ARC and/or the ARC Salon. This is necessary for us to be able to include your work on our website, in our 16th ARC Salon Book and for the general promotion of your work through your participation in the competition. Images will not be used for other commercial purposes and artists retain general copyrights for all other purposes. By submitting your entry, you warrant that your entries are original work; conceived and created entirely by you, that you have read and understand the rules set forth in the competition prospectus, that you are 18 years of age or older, or if under 18, have the permission of a parent or guardian to submit your works and that the parent or guardian is agreeing to the rules set forth in this competition prospectus on minor’s behalf. The ARC's Terms and Conditions also apply. Please review our Privacy Policy.
Works entered into the ARC Salon Competition do not need to be available for sale.
Works entered into the ARC Salon Competition do not need to be available for the 16th International ARC Salon Exhibition. There are over 180 awards and honorable mentions and there will be over 1,000 finalists. There is only room for about 100 works in the exhibition, so there are always enough works to create the live show.
To learn more about ARC Jurors, categories, and awards, please return to the introduction page.