Sydney Catholic Schools Annual Portrait Prize

portrait prize 2026

Due: Friday 24 October 2025, 5pm

The SCS Portrait Prize serves as a powerful platform to recognise and celebrate outstanding Visual Arts students while setting a high standard of excellence for emerging talent from K-12. By encouraging students to create representational portraits, this competition fosters creative expression and emotional intelligence. Through this experience, students gain confidence in their critical thinking and practical skills, making the SCS Portrait Prize a valuable opportunity for young artists to develop and showcase their talents.

Students are invited to create a portrait of a person who plays a significant role in their life.

All submissions are exhibited in the SCS Portrait Prize Virtual Gallery. The best of these submissions are then exhibited at the McGlade Gallery, Australian Catholic University Strathfield.

Selected category winners will be entered into the Young Archie Portrait Competition at the Art Gallery of NSW. Additionally, those who receive honourable mentions in the Young Archie competition will undergo a selection process and may have the chance to be featured in the Salon de Refuses at the SH Ervin Gallery.

Open to all students from 5 years – 18 years of age.
Due: Friday 24 October 2025, 5pm

Virtual Gallery to be open – Virtual Gallery opens Friday 12 December 2025. Winners announced February 2026.

Art Competition Information and FAQ

By entering the Sydney Catholic Schools Portrait Prize Art Competition, entrants accept these terms and conditions as stated.

Copyright

The artwork submitted must be the original work of the student themselves and not infringe the copyright, moral rights or other rights of any third party. Artworks that are deemed to not belong to or be created by the student will NOT be eligible.

Licensing of artwork

Participants of the competition (including winners and finalists) grant the Parties non-exclusive rights to reproduce their artwork in material form, to photograph, publish and/or communicate it to the public for competition-related purposes, and anything incidental to such purposes, by the Parties: marketing, publicity, educational and publication uses, the competition and its exhibition in all media, including but not limited to electronic/digital, broadcasting and print media, in perpetuity. Permission to reproduce the work must be conveyed by the student to any party outside the Parties. Where reasonable, the Parties will attribute the student as the author of the work and reproduce the work in full. Details of the work may be used at the Parties’ discretion. Entrants (including winners and finalists) will not be entitled to any fee for such use.

Privacy

Sydney Catholic Schools collects personal information for the purposes of registration and to keep schools informed about the contest. Sydney Catholic Schools is committed to protecting the privacy of personal information which the organisation collects, holds and administers. Sydney Catholic Schools will use all reasonable efforts to protect the privacy of individuals’ personal information and to comply with the obligations imposed by the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) (Privacy Act) and the Australian Privacy Principles (APP).

Sydney Catholic Schools will not share any personal data about entrants with any party excluding the Parties to the competition, without the consent of the parent, teacher or guardian.

  • Schools may nominate up to 5 students in each category that they deem exemplary.
  • A separate form must be filled in for each submission.
  • All images must be uploaded at the time of submission and must be a high (1-3 MB) resolution .jpeg and suitable to add to a virtual gallery.
  • All submissions, images and artist statements must be submitted by the 22nd November 2024 at the latest.
  • Winners will be notified mid-February
  • All submitted works will be included in the Virtual exhibition. Virtual exhibition date to be confirmed.
  • The judging criteria will consider:
  • Conceptional strength;
  • Relevance of the submitted artwork to the theme;
  • Technical resolution;
  • Artistic interpretation of the theme; and
  • Originality of the submission.
  • The judges’ decision will be final and no correspondence will be entered into

  • There is one prize winner in each of the 4 categories.
  • Each winner will receive a hamper of art materials from ZART.
  • 4 honourable mentions per category
  • Certificates for each student entry

The winning piece of artwork in each category will be entered into the Young Archie competition. The Art Gallery of New South Wales invites budding artists between the ages of 5 and 18 to submit a portrait. The portrait must be of a person who is special to you – someone who is known to you and who knows you and plays a significant role in your life.

Can regional and remote schools enter?

No, the competition is only open to students in Sydney Archdiocesan systemic Catholic Schools.

Are there any age restrictions?

The competition is open to students in the following age categories  in primary and secondary school. Students must be attending a Sydney Archdiocesan systemic Catholic School in 2024.

Eligibility:

5-8 year category: born 18 March 2016 to 17 March 2020

9-12 year category: born 18 March 2012 to born 17 March 2016

13-15 year category: born 18 March 2009 to 17 March 2012

16-18 year category: born 18 March 2006 to 17 March 2009

Can we submit a group/class artwork?

No, the competition is only open to individual students’ artwork.

Can I copy it?

The judges are looking for originality and only original work is eligible for the competition. You must not copy an artwork or photograph created by another person or an image from another source such as the internet or a print publication.

Do I have to enter a painting?

No. You can use any physical materials you like, including paint, pencil, oil pastel, crayon and collage.

Does the artwork need to be created at school in class?

No, students can create their artwork at home or within the curriculum.

Can I submit my child’s own artwork?

No, all submissions must be done through the school. Each school can submit a maximum of 5 artworks in each category for judging.

Who is on the expert judging panel?

The panel is made up of Education Officers from the Sydney Catholic Schools Arts HQ Team and Arts HQ Artists in Residence.

How are finalists and winners announced

Finalists will be announced through Sydney Catholic Schools Communications. Each winning school will be notified via email once Sydney Catholic Schools announces the winners.

Announcements will also be shared on the Sydney Catholic Schools website and their social media platforms.

2022 Artsteps SCS Portrait Prize

2022 catalogue

2023 Artsteps SCS Portrait Prize

2024 Portrait Prize Winners