Enter the Young Archie competition

06 Feb 2026

The Art Gallery of New South Wales invites budding artists between the ages of 5 and 18 to submit a portrait for the Young Archie competition.

If your child enjoys art, this is the competition for them.

Portraits must be of a person who is special to the artist – someone who is known to, and who knows them and plays a significant role in their life.

Organisers prefer that the portrait is ‘painted from life’ and that the subject has a sitting for their portrait, like with the Archibald Prize. The artist may also create the portrait from memory or take their own photograph to use for reference. Self-portraits are also accepted.

The artwork can be created using any physical materials, including paint, pencil, oil pastel, crayon and collage, as long as the artwork is dry, has no sharp edges, is two dimensional and doesn’t sit higher than 5mm above the surface of the paper. However, print-outs of digitally created drawings (e.g. those drawn with a stylus on a tablet) are not eligible for entry.

Watch this short YouTube clip about the Young Archie competition.

We have some great artists at Stanmore Public School and we look forward to seeing some amazing portraits.

Important

Stanmore Public School is able to enter up to 10 portraits.

All portraits must be given to Ms Carruthers by Thursday, 26 February - only 3 week from now.

Portraits must have a title and include a short paragraph on a separate piece of paper about why the subject was chosen.

For more information, please see Ms Carruthers.

Enter the competition directly

Student's may also enter the competition directly. For those who would prefer to enter directly, below is some key information and a link to the online application form.

There are four age categories

To be considered for selection, an entrant must comply with all entry instructions and conditions.

Entry form

• You can’t download the form to fill it in. You must complete it online using the online application form.
• The form has several parts, each on a different page.
• You can move back and forward in the form, but you can’t save a version for completing later.
• You will be prompted to complete each part before submitting.
• You will then see an on-screen message with a link to your completed form and instructions. This will also be emailed to you.
• Print the completed form and make sure the entrant’s parent or legal guardian signs it before including it with the artwork for posting.

Learn more at Art Gallery NSW

Young Archie 2026