The Alpine Fellowship Visual Art Prize 2026 is an international visual arts competition organised by the Alpine Fellowship, designed to support, recognise, and promote emerging and established artists from around the world. The prize invites artists working in any visual medium to submit original artwork that responds thoughtfully and creatively to the annual theme, which for 2026 is JOY. By encouraging deep artistic engagement with a universal yet complex concept, the prize seeks to highlight work that demonstrates originality, technical skill, and a strong conceptual vision.
Open to a wide range of visual art practices, the competition welcomes submissions across disciplines such as painting, drawing, photography, printmaking, sculpture, installation, digital art, and mixed media. Artists are encouraged to interpret the theme broadly, whether through figurative, abstract, experimental, or conceptual approaches. Submissions are assessed by a panel of distinguished judges drawn from the international art world, ensuring that shortlisted and winning works reflect both artistic excellence and intellectual depth. The competition provides artists with a valuable opportunity to gain exposure within a respected cultural organisation that champions interdisciplinary creativity.
Beyond the financial awards, the Alpine Fellowship Visual Art Prize 2026 forms part of a wider programme dedicated to fostering dialogue between the arts, philosophy, and culture. Winning and shortlisted artists benefit from increased visibility through the Fellowship’s platforms, helping to raise their professional profile and connect their work with a global audience. By combining meaningful prize money with critical recognition, the competition aims to support artists at pivotal stages in their careers while contributing to ongoing conversations about creativity, meaning, and human experience in contemporary visual art.
There is an entry fee of £10 per entry.
Eligibility
Open to all nationalities and applicants aged 18 or above, with one piece per entry permitted.
Prize
The prize awards financial support to the top submissions, with £3,000 for first place and £1,000 each for second and third place, recognising outstanding artistic responses to the theme and supporting recipients in their creative practice.
