Alpine Fellowship Visual Art Prize 2026

The Alpine Fellowship Visual Art Prize is the visual art track of the Alpine Fellowship's annual symposium program. Each year carries a single thematic prompt — past themes have included "On Childhood," "On Identity," "On Forgiveness and Retribution," "On Untamed," "On Freedom," "On Language," "On Flourishing," and "On Fear." The 2026 theme is "JOY."

Cash prizes total £5,000 across three placements: £3,000 first place, £1,000 second place, and £1,000 third place. The 2026 jury comprises Sue Grayson Ford MBE (former Director of the Serpentine Gallery and Photographers' Gallery London) and Julian Spalding (former Director of Art Galleries for Sheffield, Manchester, and Glasgow).

The competition is open to all media — painting, sculpture, photography, video, installation — with videos capped at 8 minutes. Submissions are limited to one piece per entry, with multiple entries permitted as separate submissions. Each piece must include media type, date of creation, and dimensions where applicable.

Eligibility is open to all nationalities, with a minimum age of 18 at the time of entry. AI-generated work is explicitly excluded — applicants must confirm their work was created entirely without AI assistance at any stage. The entry fee is £10 per submission. The 2026 deadline is July 1.