The Ingram Prize
The Ingram Prize is an annual purchase prize open to visual artists who are within five years of graduation from a UK-based art school.
Shortlisted artists will be invited to showcase their entries in a group exhibition and 3 will be selected as recipients of the Ingram Prize. One further artist will be awarded the Founder’s Award. All prizewinning works will be acquired for The Ingram Collection, and one prize-winner will be offered a solo exhibition in 2027. Entry is free.
Enter by 25 August 2026.
The Soho Open
The Soho Open is an opportunity for artists, makers, designers, and creatives working in the UK, welcoming submissions in any medium.
With no set theme, The Soho Open invites creatives at all stages of their careers to submit their work for consideration. The selection panel will choose up to 100 works to be exhibited at Great Pulteney Street Gallery from 6 November – 22 November 2026.
As well as the opportunity to be part of this new exhibition, artists will be eligible for The People's Choice Award & The Soho Housing Association Award, awarded to one outstanding submission. Up to three artists will be awarded a solo presentation.
Enter by 3 September 2026
John Ruskin Art Prize
The John Ruskin Prize is open to entries from artists, designers and makers, amateur or professional, from anywhere in the world.
The theme of this year is Not for Present Delight. In a time defined by environmental urgency and social inequality, Not for Present Delight asks what it means to create with an awareness of consequence, while also posing the challenge: must art serve a purpose beyond itself?
The Prize welcomes works in all mediums, including drawing, painting, print, sculpture, photography, textile, animation, mixed media, digital, performance, installation and more.
The selection panel will select work for inclusion in an exhibition at Trinity Buoy Wharf, London.
Four winners will receive prizes totalling £9,500: a 1st Prize of £3,000, The Alan Davidson Under 26 Prize of £1,000, Ruskin Mill Trust Prize of £3,000 and the Chelsea Arts Club Award of £2,500.
Enter by 17 November 2026.
The Discerning Eye
This prestigious annual exhibition at the Mall Galleries in London celebrates small-scale artworks by UK-based artists. Open to all UK-based artists working at small scale, maximum 50cm including frame, all mediums welcome, all works must be for sale.
This year, selectors include Hugh Bonneville: award-winning actor and passionate collector of the visual arts; Kelvin Okafor: one of the UK's most acclaimed portrait artists; Martin Robinson: arts editor at The London Standard and Mel Gerlis: art market economist, writer and critic for the FT.
Enter by 27 August 2026
Royal Institute of Oil Painters Annual Exhibition 2026
The ROI welcomes submissions on all subjects and approaches to oil paint, from plein air, landscape and still life to portraiture and abstraction. There are prizes up to £10,000.
The 2026 special theme is ‘Winter Rituals’. The theme invites oil painters to explore the traditions, repeated actions, gestures and rhythms that shape our experience of winter, from personal routines and acts of devotion to cultural traditions and collective gatherings.
Enter by 9 October 2026.