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The Competition

Young Painters, U.S. residents, ages 25 – 35 as of competition entry, are invited to participate in an annual juried competition for the 2026 $10,000 William and Dorothy Yeck Award. Entrants should have achieved a significant degree of success as an emerging artist of noteworthy talent. The Yeck Award-winning artwork becomes part of the ¾Ã¾ÃÈÈÊÓƵ Painters of the 21st Century Collection.

Juror

2026: Saya Woolfalk, Artist, NY

Saya Woolfalk is a New York-based artist who uses science fiction and fantasy to re-imagine the world in multiple dimensions. With the multi-year projects No Place, The Empathics, and ChimaTEK, Woolfalk has created the world of the Empathics, a fictional race of women who are able to alter their genetic make-up and fuse with plants. With each body of work, Woolfalk continues to build the narrative of these women's lives and questions the utopian possibilities of cultural hybridity. Woolfalk has exhibited at museums, galleries, and alternative spaces throughout Asia, Europe and the United States including solo exhibitions at the Museum of Arts and Design, New York (2025); Currier Museum of Art, (2023); Contemporary Arts Center, Cincinnati (2019); Mead Museum of Art, (2017); Sheldon Museum of Art, 2016); Everson Museum of Art, (2016); Montclair Art Museum, (2012); the Chrysler Museum of Art, (2014); the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco (2014); and group shows at the Studio Museum in Harlem; MoMA PS1; the Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh and the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago. Collections include the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Mead Art Museum, the Weatherspoon Art Museum, the Newark Museum, the Chrysler Museum of Art, and the Seattle Art Museum.

Competition Awards

$10,000 William and Dorothy Yeck Purchase Award
$2,500 Second Place Award
$2,000 Third Place Award

Your Entry

Your entry/submission is to consist of the following: (Incomplete or late entries will be rejected)

1. Entry Form and Artist Contract
   1. Submission of Paintings
      2-5 entries; no dimension exceeding 72 inches, artworks completed within the past three years demonstrating the scope and depth of your work. All works submitted must be available for the exhibition and purchase award and cannot be a part of a public or private collection. (Exhibition dates: January/March 2026.)
   2. Entry Images
      All submitted images of paintings should be JPG, 5” x 7”, approx., 355 dpi, RGB color mode. The juror will choose 10 finalists and 2 works from each finalist.
   3. Image List
      An Image List should be included with your entry, with the following information per image entry: Artist name, Title of work, Year of work, Media, Dimensions in inches, and an image of the artwork.
2. 1-2 page CV via email to taulbeae@MiamiOH.edu
3. Entry Fee: $25.00

Deadline for receipt of entry materials: Monday, September 29, 2025, 11:59 p.m.

Notification

The 10 Finalists chosen by our 2026 Juror will be notified in mid/late October 2025. Images of the finalists' works will be retained by ¾Ã¾ÃÈÈÊÓƵ. Artworks of finalists to arrive the week of December 2, 2025. The $10,000 Yeck Purchase Award winner will be invited to have a solo exhibition and serve as a visiting artist to coincide with the 2027 competition. Participation in the exhibition entry process and signing the entry form, constitutes an understanding and acceptance of the conditions set forth herein, including the right of ¾Ã¾ÃÈÈÊÓƵ to use submitted images for publicity and educational purposes.

All artworks submitted must be available for the exhibition and for the Yeck Purchase Award.
Artwork entries cannot be part of a public or private collection.

Shipping

All finalists will assume the cost of shipment and insurance of artworks to ¾Ã¾ÃÈÈÊÓƵ. Works must be packed in reusable crates/boxes and constructed to withstand the rigors of commercial shipping. Finalists are responsible for the repair of damaged crates before the works are returned. Works may also be hand-delivered. Hand-delivered works must also be picked-up from ¾Ã¾ÃÈÈÊÓƵ. Miami will assume the cost of return shipping of the finalists' paintings, shipped and insured as delivered to ¾Ã¾ÃÈÈÊÓƵ.

Questions

Contact: Ann Taulbee, Director
Email: taulbeae@MiamiOH.edu
Web: Hiestand Galleries
Phone: 513-529-1883