COMPETITION RULES

• All individuals entering must be at least 18 years of age to accept cash prizes.
• Competition is open to residents of any state or country where acceptable by law.
• Those entering the Artists Under 30 or Artists Over 65 categories must provide valid identification if chosen as the category winner.

• Each entry must be accompanied by an entry fee.
• The fee for the first image submitted is $42, and additional images submitted are $21 each (U.S. dollars).
• All entry fees are non-refundable and must be paid via credit or debit card prior to entering.
• Any purchased credits will need to be used during the same monthly competition in which they were purchased. Unused credits will not roll over to the next competition. 
• The average artist enters at least 3 paintings or 3 categories. 

• This competition is open to any artist of any level.
• This competition is open to all mediums. 
• All entries must be original compositions and cannot be based on anything that has been published elsewhere. Copies of other artists’ work are NOT considered original and are not eligible. Paintings based on another person’s photograph (even if copyright-free) are NOT eligible. All entries must be 100% painted by the artist entering and cannot have been painted partially by an instructor.
• Paintings from photographs owned by the artist are eligible.
• Artworks submitted into the digital or photography categories must be original works. 
• Entries of paintings or drawings that are nothing more than a Photoshop filter may be entered only in digital categories. 
• There is no restriction on subject matter, but artwork deemed vulgar or inappropriate will be removed from consideration and not posted online. 
• This is an online competition, so entries sent outside of the online system will not be accepted. In addition, there is no requirement to ship paintings. 
• Employees or associates of the National Gold Metal of Art or affiliated companies or their immediate families may not enter.
• Entries do not need to be new or fresh. Older paintings accepted.
• There is no limit to the number of images you can enter in each monthly competition. You may potentially increase your odds of winning by entering multiple categories.
• An image that has not previously won in a category may be re-entered in subsequent competitions as many times as you wish until it wins a category; different judges may see the artwork as a winner. 
• All category winners of each monthly competition are included in the judging for the Grand Prize, so there is no need to enter a winning painting multiple times.
• Images can be entered in multiple categories. Please note that if you enter the same image in multiple categories, that image can be selected as a winner of only one category.
• Grand Prize winners are not eligible to win the Grand Prize again within 12 months of winning.
• When first entering the National Gold Medal of Art Competition, you’ll be asked to create a profile on ArtCall.org. If you do not have an artist account at ArtCall.org, click here. This takes just a few minutes, and then you can upload quality images of your paintings and select the categories you wish to enter.
• The National Gold Metal of Art reserves the right to reject or not display any image that it feels is inappropriate or distasteful, any image with poor resolution quality, any image that it believes to be a copy of another painting, or artwork that does not meet the above criteria. 

• Please note that judges frequently reject paintings because they have been poorly photographed or poorly lit, or if the images are low-resolution. Please consider putting your best foot forward. 
• Before uploading your images, make sure they are smaller than 4MB, but at least 1920 pixels on the longest side at 72 dpi. Images should be in JPEG format, sRGB color space. Help in photographing your work and properly sizing your images can be found at: https://nationalgoldmetal.com/help/. If you need help entering your images or are unable to, please write to us here: https://nationalgoldmetal.com/contact/

• After the close of each monthly competition, an invited guest judge (top museum or gallery professional or master artist) selects the best paintings from each category. The winners will be notified via e-mail, and official announcements and promotion will begin on approximately the 15th of the month after the close of each competition. 
• In the event a judge who has been promoted is unable to judge for any reason, an alternative judge will be appointed. If one cannot be found, judging will be done by officials at the National Gold Metal of Art.
• Winners will be selected in each category of each monthly competition. 
• Winners of each monthly competition, including each category winner, will be entered into the judging for the annual competition.
• In the event a category does not have enough entries or paintings of high enough quality, judges may decide not to award recognition in that particular category for that competition period.

By entering the National Gold Medal of Art Competition, you agree that you are submitting images of your own original artwork and not that of other artists or material in which you do not hold the copyright. In the event of disputes or claims by artists claiming you’ve copied your work, National Gold Metal of art is not liable and the person entering accepts full liability. You agree to hold this competition and its organization free of liability or litigation.

The original work does not have to currently be in your possession. You are also agreeing, in advance, to have your submitted artwork and your image published to any print or digital/electronic publication offering publicity to this competition. This includes, but is not limited to, print and digital magazines, newsletters, websites, e-mails, social media pages, and promotional materials in perpetuity.

At times, the National Gold Metal of Art may request a higher-resolution image than was submitted through the competition. When entering, you agree to fulfill this request in a timely manner by the deadline offered in order to promote the competition winners. If a high-resolution image is required for a cover or a feature and it is not available, the competition reserves the right to award the prize to the next runner-up in order to have publishable content.

Each monthly competition ends at midnight Pacific Time on the published final day of that competition. No exceptions.

Only electronic submissions through the competition’s official website will be accepted. Entries received by mail or physical delivery in the form of photographs, discs, or actual paintings will not be accepted.

The National Gold Medal of Art is not affiliated with the U.S. government and is a private enterprise. Entries may be made from any country in the world where acceptable by law. The Grand Prize winner will win a metal medallion (the medallion is not made of gold but a gold look-alike substance).