Final call to Mayo artists for entries to portrait competitions

The National Gallery of Ireland is issuing a final call-out to Mayo artists for entries to the AIB Portrait Prize and AIB Young Portrait Prize 2026 competitions. Entry closes at 10 p.m. on Friday, July 3.

The AIB Portrait Prize highlights contemporary portraiture, welcoming entries from artists working in all media both in Ireland and from Irish artists living abroad. The AIB Young Portrait Prize invites submissions from young artists aged 18 and under.

The AIB Portrait Prize aims to spark interest in contemporary portraiture and to highlight the nation’s portrait collection at the National Gallery of Ireland. It plays a vital role in celebrating a wide range of artistic practices and interpretations of portraiture. Hundreds of artworks by artists working across all disciplines are considered by an expert judging panel.

The winning artist will be awarded a prize of €15,000 and a commission worth €5,000 to produce a new work for inclusion in the National Portrait Collection. Two additional prizes of €1,500 are awarded to highly commended works.

Judges for the AIB Portrait Prize 2026 are: Dr. Brian Fay, artist and lecturer at TU Dublin; Christina Kennedy, senior curator, head of collections at the Irish Museum of Modern Art; and Dr. Joseph McBrinn, art historian and lecturer at Belfast School of Art.

The AIB Young Portrait Prize aims to foster and support creativity, originality, and self-expression in children and young people. There are four age categories: aged six and under, seven to 11, 12 to 15, and 16 to 18. Winners in each category, as well as an overall winner, are selected from a shortlist of works. Prizes include a beautiful bespoke art box and cash prizes for the winners.

This year’s AIB Young Portrait Prize judges are Amanda Coogan, artist; Carl Hickey, artist; and Donna Rose, curator at the National Museum of Ireland.

Dr. Caroline Campbell, director of the National Gallery of Ireland, said: “With the annual AIB Portrait Prize and AIB Young Portrait Prize, our aim is to showcase the work of Irish artists and encourage an interest in contemporary Irish portraiture. Each year, the shortlisted artists demonstrate the incredible diversity of Irish artistic talent. We are proud to partner with AIB once again this year, and we look forward to seeing who and what inspires artists of all ages to make portraits.”

Colin Hunt, CEO of AIB, added: “This is the third year that AIB has held the honour of supporting these competitions, which showcase the talent ofcontemporary Ireland in all its diversity today. We look forward each year to seeing the quality and creativity of submissions from artists across the country and from Irish artists living abroad, and we continue in that excitement for the 2026 prizes. We encourage all eligible artists to enter.”

The highly commended artists, category winners, and overall winners of the AIB Portrait Prize and AIB Young Portrait Prize will be announced at a prize-giving ceremony in December 2026, after the exhibitions have opened to the public at the gallery.

The exhibitions will run in the National Gallery of Ireland’s Portrait Gallery from November 14 this year until March 14 next year. Admission is free, with no booking required.

The gallery is partnering with Galway Arts Centre and Limerick City Gallery of Art to present the AIB Portrait Prize and AIB Young Portrait Prize 2026. Following their display at the National Gallery of Ireland, the exhibitions will travel next year to Galway Arts Centre from April 3 to June 27 and to Limerick City Gallery of Art from July 9 to August 15.

Applications are now open and available online via the National Gallery of Ireland website. Find out more at www.nationalgallery.ie.