Anna’s Garden: A New Generation of Women Artists

American Women Artists’ twelfth museum exhibition in its 25 in 25 initiative will present approximately 50–65 two- and three-dimensional works at Brookgreen Gardens in Murrells Inlet, South Carolina, May 8–July 25, 2027. The juried exhibition features drawing, painting, printmaking, mixed media, and sculpture using traditional fine-art materials. Awards include a $10,000 Grand Prize and approximately $20,000 in other cash and merchandise awards. Works need not be for sale.

Eligibility: Women age 18 or older working in the fine arts and residing in the United States or Canada. Applicants and finalists must be current American Women Artists members in good standing by December 10, 2026, and maintain membership throughout the exhibition. New members must join and apply separately; membership dues are additional. Applications are accepted October 10–December 10, 2026; finalists are announced December 17, 2026.

Works: All subjects and styles are eligible in drawing, painting, printmaking, mixed media, and sculpture. Submit up to six works; no more than one work per accepted artist will be selected. Two-dimensional works must have been completed within the last two years and three-dimensional works within the last five years. Works previously accepted into an AWA national juried museum competition or online juried show are ineligible. Maximum 2D size is 30 inches on the longest side, unframed. Sculpture may be no taller than 6 feet including base or pedestal and weigh no more than 200 pounds.

Materials: Sculpture may use cast or fabricated metal, stone, glass, wood, or fired permanent media such as terra cotta, stoneware, porcelain, and earthenware. Painting materials include oil, acrylic, water media, pastel, egg tempera, encaustic, and mixed media. Drawing materials include conte crayon, colored pencil, graphite, pen and ink, scratchboard, and charcoal. Printmaking must use an original hand-drawn or painted matrix producing a hand-pulled print in a limited, signed edition on paper, board, wood, or canvas. Mixed media may use only the permitted materials. Jewelry, fiber, fabric, photography, video, and digital, AI, or machine-generated elements are prohibited, including machine-printed layers or substrates such as photographs, giclees, and newspaper. Digital resizing of sculpture is permitted only when every aspect is the artist’s original creation.

Originality and rights: Work must be created independently, without supervision, outside classes or workshops, without AI assistance, and using reference material developed or selected by the artist herself. Instructor- or AI-provided references are prohibited. Works may not copy other artists, AI, or published materials; composition, lighting, color, and material choices must be the artist’s own even when reference use is legally permitted. Artwork must be originally drawn, not applied over printed images. Entrants must own full copyright and retain copyright to their images. Submission grants AWA and the Museum permission to use work images for advertising and noncommercial promotion of the exhibition and AWA. Noncompliant, damaged, or offensive work may be rejected, including after acceptance; eligibility failures may also affect future AWA participation.

Application and fees: Complete the entire ShowSubmit entry form and list dimensions to the nearest inch. Submit original, high-quality JPEG images in RGB/sRGB, at least 1920 pixels on the longest edge and no larger than 30 MB, cropped to artwork only without mats, frames, or background and correctly oriented. Multiple views of 3D works are encouraged, not required. ShowSubmit handles image resizing and filenames. Entry costs $60 for up to two works plus $10 for each additional work, to a maximum of six. Pay through ShowSubmit at application; membership and entry fees are nonrefundable. Accepted artists must additionally contribute $100 toward the exhibition catalogue and receive three print copies. The prospectus says applications cannot be changed after submission and prices cannot change after entry, while the platform’s additional-entry section says artist/image information and images can be edited until the deadline; applicants should clarify this conflict. Incomplete, unpaid, or late entries are disqualified.

Exhibition and sales: Accepted works must remain on display May 8–July 25, 2027, and cannot appear concurrently in an online exhibition. Sold or not-for-sale works are eligible; mark not-for-sale works NFS. Accepted works may be pre-sold but must remain in the exhibition and sales proceeds must be shared. Artists receive 55% of 2D sales or 60% of 3D sales; the Museum receives 35%, and AWA receives 10% for 2D or 5% for 3D. Prices must follow the artist’s current pricing structure and include shipping to the buyer; continental-US buyers will not be billed shipping. The Museum processes sales, adds and remits applicable sales tax, and pays artists by the 10th of the following month. A W-9 is required before payment. Awards include a $10,000 Grand Prize and approximately $20,000 in other cash and merchandise awards; the awards section states a total of at least $30,000.

Delivery and insurance: Accepted paintings and drawings must be framed and wired; sculpture must be ready to place with stands and title plates securely fastened. Stone sculpture may ship with its base detached only with clear, simple, labeled assembly instructions and all necessary installation materials. Artists must arrange delivery to Coastal Transfer and Storage, 3295 South Frazier St., Georgetown, SC 29440, arriving April 16–23, 2027. List the artist as receiver and use coastaltransfer@gmail.com and 843-240-1466 as receiver contact information. Artists pay shipping and insure work in transit. Shipped work requires a prepaid FedEx or UPS return label and artist-arranged pickup August 3–13, 2027; in-person collection is August 3–6, 2027. Supply an updated label for sold work going to a buyer. No Museum shipping/handling fee applies. Museum personnel condition-report and install works. The Museum insures work while exhibited for the amount on the application; insurance payment is the artist’s sole recovery for loss or damage. Nonconforming work may be returned at the artist’s expense.