Online exhibitions are here to stay. IAPS will continue to hold two each year, open to artists wherever they live, provided they are members of an IAPS member society. These exhibitions remain one of the best ways to show your pastel work to an international audience. Acceptance and awards continue to earn points toward Master Circle and Eminent Pastelist status.
Entries for the 2026 Fall Online Exhibition are now open. Whether this is your first time entering or your twentieth, here’s everything in one place: how to enter, who’s judging, what the awards are, and the dates to mark on your calendar.
Two Divisions, One Show
The Fall Online Exhibition has two divisions running side by side, and your IAPS honors status determines which one you should enter.
The 49th Open Division is for artists who hold an up-to-date membership with an IAPS member society and have not achieved Master Circle status. Acceptance here is one of the ways artists build toward Master Circle over time.
The 17th Master Circle Division is for artists who have already earned Master Circle or Eminent Pastelist status. If you qualified for the Master Circle in the 48th IAPS Open Exhibition or earlier, you are required to enter this division rather than the Open Division.
In both divisions, you may submit up to five works, and no more than one per artist will be accepted. Submitting five gives the jury more to choose from. It does not increase how many of your pieces are accepted.
Both divisions are entered through ShowSubmit:
Key Dates
- Entries open: Friday, July 24, 2026
- Entry deadline: Monday, September 7, 2026, midnight PST
- Notification and awards announced: Thursday, October 8, 2026
- Exhibition on view: October 8 through December 8, 2026
What You Can Enter
Work must be original dry pastel created within the last two years and not previously accepted into an IAPS exhibition. Oil pastel is not eligible, and mixed media pieces must be predominantly dry pastel. Work must be originally drawn, not created on top of any photographic image, and not produced from instructor-provided references or in a classroom or workshop setting.
You can submit up to five works. Entry is $35 for the first piece and $10 for each additional one.
Work previously accepted into an IAPS exhibition is not eligible, and entering one carries a penalty against your honors points. Member society shows do not count against this, only prior IAPS exhibitions.
Getting Your Images Right
Here are some photography requirements before you submit your work.
- JPEG format, sRGB color profile, 30MB maximum per file
- At least 1500 pixels on the longest edge
- Crop to the artwork only. No mat, no frame, no easel edge, no wall
- Check your orientation so the piece displays the way it hangs
A square, well-lit, glare-free photo does your painting justice. It is worth the extra fifteen minutes. ShowSubmit offers help in this area if needed and can be contacted at support@showsubmit.com.
How the Judging Works
Two separate things happen, and it helps to know the difference.
The Jurying Process
IAPS maintains a standing jury pool of accomplished pastel artists, and the members who jury any given exhibition remain anonymous.
Judge of Awards
Once the show is selected, a single Judge of Awards reviews the accepted work and chooses the winners.
This year’s Judge of Awards for both divisions is Natasha Isenhour, a contemporary American realist working in both oil and pastel and an IAPS Master Circle recipient herself. Her landscapes are known for unpopulated spaces with an edgy lonesome starkness, and her attention to light runs through everything she makes: “Light turns the land and everything in it into a shapeshifter; it changes it every second.”
She exhibits throughout the Southwest, teaches several sold-out workshops a year in both plein air and studio, and is represented by galleries in Arizona, California, Colorado, and New Mexico.
The Awards
Open Division
- Best in Show: $2,000
- First Place, in Honor of Urania Christy Tarbet: $1,000
- Second Place, in Honor of Maggie Price: $600
- Third Place: $400
- Four Awards of Merit: $200 each
Master Circle Division
- Prix de Pastel: $2,000
- Gold Award, in Honor of Daniel Greene: $1,000
- Silver Award, in Honor of Elizabeth Mowry: $600
- Bronze Award, in Honor of Bill Creevy: $400
- Four Awards of Excellence: $200 each
Payments are now made by PayPal transfer rather than paper check. If you do not have a PayPal account, it is worth setting one up before October.
What Acceptance Earns You
Beyond the exhibition itself, entering an IAPS web show builds toward IAPS honors.
Acceptance earns one point. An award earns an additional point. Five points earns Master Circle. Ten more, fifteen in total, earns Eminent Pastelist.
Because only one work per artist is accepted per show, and IAPS runs two web shows a year, the most anyone can earn in a year through the web shows is four points.
Why Web Shows Matter
The online exhibitions are a permanent part of how IAPS serves its member artists. They are international by nature, open to IAPS member society artists wherever they live, and they require no shipping, no framing, and no travel.
Entries are open now. Pick your strongest recent work, photograph it well, and get it in before September 7.
The full prospectus for each division, including sales terms, membership verification, and complete entry requirements, is on the ShowSubmit entry pages linked above.
Contact us at contact@iapspastel.org with questions about eligibility, membership, or the prospectus.
Contact ShowSubmit at support@showsubmit.com with questions about the entry system itself, image uploads, or payment.