RISE by Henley Festival Emerging Artist Prize 2026
RISE by Henley Festival is a charitable programme which supports emerging talent in the creative industries. The RISE by Henley Festival Emerging Artist Prize was created to acknowledge emerging talent in the visual arts. The award gives recognition and awareness to outstanding visual artists who are over the age of 18 and are in the early stages of their professional career or who have not yet established a reputation as an artist amongst art curators, buyers and critics.
Prize – Three Finalists
First prize of £1,000, and two runners up prizes of £500.
The winners will be given an exhibition space in which to exhibit their work in the RISE Gallery at Henley Festival 2026. The value of this space is approximately £1,300. All work must be for sale and, in the spirit of encouraging emerging talent, Henley Festival will take no commission on sales and will provide agreed expenses up to £300 for transporting work. The three finalists will be required to attend the festival and will also receive two complimentary General Admission tickets for one night.
We accept:
Paintings
Drawings
Original Prints
Textile and mixed media
Collaborative artworks can be submitted
We do not accept:
Three dimensional/sculptural work
Digital, computer manipulated, or AI art
Pure photography
Artwork of an inappropriate or offensive subject matter
Digital prints e.g. giclée
Your entry should reflect your current or lifelong body of work.
Entrants must submit artworks that are available, so that they have access to the original pieces and can take part in the exhibition. All artwork entered into the competition must be unsold and available for sale during the festival if selected.
Entries must feature work completed by the entrants themselves and must be their own original work. The artist must be the sole author and owner of the copyright of all artwork entered.
HOW TO ENTER:
Please send digital images of three to five works which are currently unsold and will be available for exhibition in July 2026. You should accompany your application with full details of each painting and the retail price.
Your application should be supported by an artist statement outlining any training you have received, relevant experience in the fine art field and introduction to your work as a whole. Your statement should highlight common concerns, motivations and processes running through your work. The artist statement and bio should not exceed 500 words.
Artists are encouraged to send a short film (no more than 2 minutes) introducing themselves and displaying the artwork which they are submitting. It should be considered as an informal ‘Studio Visit’ for the judges.
All digital images should be between 1MB and 2MB. Only the following file formats are acceptable: JPEGs or PNGs. Each image file must be named with your surname, first name and brief title e.g. SmithJohn_Title.jpeg.
Images should be an accurate representation of your artwork, taken in natural light, as well as being of a high resolution for reproduction online.
deadline: 31st March 2026.
more info: https://henley-festival.co.uk/rise/emerging-artist-prize/
