Entering art contests and competitions is one way to get noticed as an artist and boost your art career.

However, it’s important to know what to look for in an art competition.

Is it a legitimate contest? What’s required to enter?  Do you have a chance of winning?  If you are one of the winners, will it really help your career?

Here are a few tips if you’re considering art contests or competitions.

Make sure you can afford any entry fee, or expenses connected with entering.

Many competitions are free to enter, or they require a small (under $25) entry fee to cover their expenses.  In some cases, the entry fees are the pool that’s awarded as cash prizes.

However, a few “art contests” are actually for-profit scams.  They award half (or less) of the money, and the contest managers keep the rest.

Sometimes, you need only submit a slide or two of your art.  Other contests require you to ship your artwork to them, insured, and include packaging and postage for it to be returned to you.

Contact past winners and see if the competition helped their careers.  Ask them if the fees (or other contest requirements) were worth it.

When you submit an entry, read the form carefully. 

What rights are you releasing when you sign the art contest’s entry form?  If you’re giving them the right to reproduce your work without paying you for it, double-check that contest’s reputation.  Make sure the phrases don’t include words like exclusive rights, irrevocable rights, and so on.

Study the kinds of art that won in the past, as well as the art contest’s rules.

If you paint abstracts, but all past winners were experts at photorealism, you may not be among this year’s winners.

If the art contest is only for senior citizens, or children under age 10, or people who live in Ohio, make sure you meet the requirements.

Always research art contests carefully.  Evaluate your odds of winning.

There are hundreds (perhaps thousands) of art contests in the U.S. every year, and similar numbers in Europe and other parts of the world.

Select the contests that fit your needs, and choose competitions where you have a chance of winning.

Once you’ve selected an art contest or competition to enter, go the extra mile.

A “good enough” entry in a contest isn’t always good enough.

If you’re submitting slides of your work, be sure you’re sending the best possible slides.

Others will hire professional photographers to take their pictures.  Can you compete with them, not just in terms of your artwork, but how well it’s represented in slides?

You can take your own photos and win… if you know what you’re doing.

Recommended: Steve Meltzer’s book about photographing arts & crafts.  It’s at the foot of this article.

If you’re shipping or delivering your work, be sure it’s protected in transit.

Also be sure it’s well framed, or on a great support, or that you’ve chosen the very best materials to display your artwork.  Never let a cheap frame or off-center support work against you.

If the public is voting, campaign for votes.

Tell your friends, family, classmates or people at work to vote for you.  Use social media to let lots of people know they can improve your chances of winning the art contest.

For art contests, use many of the same PR tools you use for your freelance art career.

Even if you don’t win, that exposure can boost your art career.

These are just a few ways you can improve your success when you’re choosing and entering art contests.

Here’s a typical art contest, described at a website that’s an excellent resource:

The 2012 Hunting Art Prize

www.theartlist.com10/24/11

The Hunting Art Prize, which is sponsored by the international oil services company Hunting PLC, is a Texas-wide competition open to established artists, talented newcomers and promising amateurs. The $50000 award is …

Don’t get so caught up in the big cash prize that you overlook the region it’s for: Texas.

When you’re looking at art contests, “little” details like that can be important.

Here’s that book I recommend, so you can take your own photos for art contests.  (This can save you a bundle!)

As far as I know, it’s the only book that covers this topic with lots of how-to information for artists & crafters who are not professional photographers.

I own a copy, and it’s always within reach, in my art studio.  I’ve referred to it often in recent years, and I’m still learning great tips from it.

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