**Women Figurative Realist Painters Can Enter to Win $75,000 and a Traveling Solo Exhibition**<\/p>\n
Aspiring women figurative realist painters are invited to apply for The Bennett Prize, with a grand prize recently increased to $75,000, the largest offered solely to women in this category. The prize also includes a traveling solo exhibition. The call for entries is open through September 19, 2026. Additionally, a $10,000 award will be given to another finalist.<\/p>\n
The Bennett Prize is endowed by art collectors Steven Alan Bennett and Dr. Elaine Melotti Schmidt at the Muskegon Museum of Art (MMA). It aims to elevate women figurative realist painters by providing financial support and a platform for their work. The winner receives $37,500 annually for two years to create a solo show. The upcoming exhibition will be displayed at the MMA during the summer of 2027.<\/p>\n
Dallas-based artist Amy Werntz won the fourth Bennett Prize in 2025, joining previous winners Shiqing Deng (2023), Ayana Ross (2021), and Aneka Ingold (2019). Werntz, a finalist in 2021, will have her solo exhibition travel the country starting next year.<\/p>\n
The Bennett Prize is designed to bolster women artists, who often face fewer opportunities and lower compensation in the art world compared to their male counterparts. From the first four Bennett Prize competitions, participants have seen considerable success, participating in numerous exhibitions, receiving awards, and gaining gallery representation.<\/p>\n
A five-member jury, including prominent figures in art education and curation, will select 10 painters from the entrants, narrowing it down to the prize and award winners. The prize is intended for women artists who have not yet achieved full recognition and is not open to hobbyists, students, or artists whose work has sold for $35,000 or more.<\/p>\n
Visit [thebennettprize.com](https:\/\/bit.ly\/3NV5luH?ref=hyperallergic.com) to learn more and apply.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
**Women Figurative Realist Painters Can Enter to Win $75,000 and a Traveling Solo Exhibition** Aspiring women figurative realist painters are invited to apply for The Bennett Prize, with a grand prize recently increased to $75,000, the largest offered solely to women in this category. The prize also includes a traveling solo exhibition. The call for entries is open through September […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":555853,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"Default","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-555852","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/winklersart.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/555852","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/winklersart.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/winklersart.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/winklersart.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/winklersart.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=555852"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/winklersart.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/555852\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/winklersart.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/555853"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/winklersart.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=555852"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/winklersart.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=555852"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/winklersart.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=555852"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}