The Kingston Prize

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The Kingston Prize

The Kingston Prize is Canada’s Portrait Competition for Canadian contemporary fine artists. Submissions are open for the 2026 exhibition.

Deadline is September 1, 2026. See details on our website - kingstonprize.ca

06/03/2026

🖼️

“In Reality”

Artist: Laurence Antony

Kingston Prize Finalist, 2019

Montreal, QC

Oil on canvas 183 x 122 cm

A contemporary subject rendered through classical means. Antony’s practice bridges old and new, using 3D imaging tools alongside oil paint to question how reality is constructed on canvas. The virtual reality headset in the work invites the viewer to ask: is painting an honest document of its subject, or does it only ever reflect the reality of the artist who made it?

🔗 See more finalists at kingstonprize.ca

06/01/2026

Submissions for The Kingston Prize 2026 are open! 🇨🇦

Here’s how to enter:
1️⃣ Prepare your portrait (painting or drawing) of a Canadian subject
2️⃣ Photograph your work in high resolution (.jpg, 1 to 4 MB)
3️⃣ Write a one page PDF with your artist statement, bio, and CV
4️⃣ Submit online with the $40 entry fee (PayPal or e-transfer)

🏆 Kingston Prize $25,000

🥈 Two $3,000 Honourable Mentions
🗳️ $1,000 People’s Choice Award

30 finalists will be exhibited in the Greater Toronto Area in November 2026. Shipping costs are covered.

📅 Submissions open April 15 to September 1, 2026
💻 Online entry only
🔗 Full rules + entry form at kingstonprize.ca (En savoir plus https://kingstonprize.ca/how-to-enter-2)

Tag an artist who should enter! 👇

05/31/2026

🖼️

“CARRY ON, Lt. Col. Dwayne Kevin Hobbs CD CO The Toronto Scottish Regiment”

Artist: Gertrude Kearns

Kingston Prize Finalist, 2007

Toronto, Ontario

Pencil, charcoal, pastel on paper

136 x 98 cm

A study of a Canadian Reserve Commanding Officer, rendered with the personal rigour and discipline of its subject. Kearns expands the mood of the head study into the uniform and background itself, where dominance and isolation, control and concern, sit side by side. A modern warrior, drawn with traditional portraiture’s bones and a contemporary eye.

🔗 See more finalists at kingstonprize.ca

05/26/2026

🎨 Canadian artists, this one’s for you.

Submissions for The Kingston Prize 2026 are officially open. 🇨🇦

Canadian artists are invited to submit portrait works in painting and drawing for consideration for the Kingston Prize, Canada’s national portrait award.

🏆 Kingston Prize $25,000
🥈 Two $3,000 Honourable Mentions
🗳️ $1,000 People’s Choice Award

30 finalists will be exhibited in the Greater Toronto Area, November 2026. Shipping costs are covered.

📅 Submissions open April 15 – September 1, 2026
💻 Entry is online
🔗 Full rules + entry form at kingstonprize.ca

Tag an artist who needs to see this 👇

📸 Image: 2019 Winner: Atleigh Homma, Acrylic on stretched canvas, “I like the Idea of Romantic Thoughts, but I’m Just Not That Poetic of a Person”

04/15/2026

Calling all portrait artists across Canada 🇨🇦

The 2026 edition of The Kingston Prize is officially OPEN for submissions! This is your opportunity to share the faces, stories, and spirit of Canada through your work, and to be part of a truly national celebration of portraiture.

🖼️ 30 finalists
🏆 $25,000 Grand Prize (plus additional awards)
📍 Exhibition in Toronto
📅 Deadline: September 1, 2026

Whether you’re emerging or established, we want to see what YOU see in the people around you!

04/07/2026

The Kingston Prize announces move to annual competition!

The Board of Directors has approved a transition from a biennial to an annual competition, beginning in 2026. It is a decision born not of haste, but of abundance—the growing strength of figurative art in this country, and our desire to offer more frequent moments of recognition to those who labour, often in solitude, to capture the human spirit in line and colour.

And so, the Kingston Prize will return in 2026, with $33,000 in prize money, and with it the promise of new stories told through paint, shadow and light. The Prize will open for submissions on April 15, 2026. Submissions will close on September 1, 2026 and in early November, Toronto will once again become a meeting ground for artists and admirers alike.

As we look toward this new chapter, we do so with a renewed sense of purpose. Portraiture, at its best, asks us to pause—to reckon with the mystery of one another, to recognize something familiar in a stranger’s gaze. In a world that moves too quickly, it reminds us to be still.

02/08/2026

Portraiture has a unique way of inviting us to truly see one another.

'How Portraiture Gives Us Permission to Stare', published in The Walrus, highlights how The Kingston Prize celebrates real faces, real stories, and the artists who capture the depth, diversity, and humanity of Canadians through portraiture. It explores the power of art to connect us and push us to reflect on who we are as a country.

Read, reflect, and discover why portraiture matters — and why The Kingston Prize continues to shape the conversation around contemporary Canadian art.

👉 Read the article here: https://thewalrus.ca/how-portraiture-gives-us-permission-to-stare/

01/28/2026

✨ In the Globe & Mail ✨

'Madonna in a Tulip Chair' (2025) by Louise Kermode is featured in the 'Globe & Mail' as part of their 'Made in Canada' series.

📍 'Madonna in a Tulip Chair' is now part of The Rooms collection
🗞️ Globe & Mail, January 27, 2026

We are especially grateful to our Chair, Jason Donville, who generously donated this painting to The Rooms in Newfoundland & Labrador, ensuring it will be preserved and shared with the public for generations to come.

🇨🇦 Art that matters. Stories that endure.

01/05/2026

✨ Happy New Year, Canada! ✨

As we step into 2026, we’re celebrating the artists and storytellers who continue to shape the face of portraiture across the country. Thank you for filling the past year with creativity, courage, and unforgettable work.

Here’s to a new year of bold ideas, fresh perspectives, and portraits that move us. Wishing everyone a bright, inspired 2026.

11/25/2025

The Telegram writes an in-depth piece about how a NL connection led to this national portrait competition win.

Read the full article - https://www.saltwire.com/newfoundland-labrador/kingston-prize-nl-model-donna-meaney

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https://www.kingstonprize.ca/

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