Description: Discover social media contest ideas for the art industry with Judgify’s online contest management solutions.

Contest Ideas for the Art Industry

Any contest is inherently a competition, and it is this competitive component that provokes both the active discussion and criticism that accompany good art contest ideas. What opportunities does a young artist acquire through such a competition?

About the Industry

Art is all about the industrial production of decorative applied arts and objects that are used to enhance daily life and other cultural spheres. 

Reasons for running contests for the art industry

First of all, the artist is able to see his/her work alongside the work of other nominated participants. During the preparation for the final exhibition, the artist is immersed in the general creative environment, discusses the work with the curator, and participates in the development of a common project or ideas for art contest. This is an opportunity to evaluate different sides of yourself, your solvency, skill, and integrity of work, while also polishing your artist’s style and raise the level.

Secondly, the gallery or institution holding the competition can then invite artists to host their first exhibition. Support and exposure at the start of a career are very important. Thanks to creative art contest ideas, artists have the opportunity to learn about and decide which institutions to work with in the future.

Thirdly, artists will receive the direct attention of curators. In the initial exhibition stage, a young artist participating in large projects will accumulate valuable experience. While working with other participants and comparing their work, the artist determines his/her place in the general context, manifests individual characteristics, and can better demonstrate their particular style.

The choice of the target audience

Young artists, curators, exhibitors, gallery owners, judges, and other art institutions will be the primary targets of your art industry contest ideas. Independent agencies that represent photographers, filmmakers, and digital creatives working in fashion and other fields will also be  groups of interest. Contests are held not only by independent institutions, but also by major foundations and museums. Depending on your segment, pick the best ideas and choose the best marketing platform for their organisation and management.  

Challenges, the features of the industry 

Today, art is a $50 billion global industry. It is non-standardised, the pricing is opaque, and the industry itself is highly unregulated. Additionally, finding a job in the art world is tough, so here are a few points to help you stay ahead and progress to more senior roles with the help of innovative art contests.

Running a contest for the art industry, process, practices

When running a contest for the art industry, consider what type of reputation the organisers have in the industry. When entering a writing, art, music, or band competition or submitting to a film or theatrical festival, you need to pay close attention to and understand the rules, terms and conditions, etc. Try out a contest education series, with the goal of helping you create excellent art contest ideas. Offering a prize that is related to your industry and also generates real happiness with the winners is crucial.

Contest requirements

Don’t forget to come up with clear contest requirements for your participants. Your instructions should be something like:

“The canvas should not be created with oil; scans of negatives, transparencies, or photographic prints are not acceptable. All canvases must be no less than 150X100 cm in size. They can be either a horizontal image or a vertical image.”

Also, choose your contest options and requirements carefully, e.g., art contest ideas for kids that are only open to children or those tailored specifically for adult professional artists, etc. Every entrant must provide a valid document that proves their current position in the industry. 

Rules

Contest timing should be clearly set for the audience (the beginning and end of the submission period). Let your contest run on the Judgify platform with its included judging module for ultimate success. 

Most social media that you use for contests, such as Facebook, Instagram, or any other platform or event website that integrates social media, are based on hashtags. In hashtag contests, ask people to post content using your hashtag, then look for content using the hashtags and easily choose a winner. Use online contest platforms to pick the winner and simplify the process even further. 

Judging

Choose a contest platform with public voting solution and select the jury. Judging apps will help you invite judges and manage the judging process based on the individual contest’s needs.

How to pick a winner

Most social media contests will pick winners based on their hashtag activities. When you run contests on event platforms, the selected judges will help to choose the winners and award them with prizes. 

Types of contests

The following social media contest ideas can be applied easily for arts contests:

• Essay contest
• Blog contest
• Photo contest
• Watercolor contest
• Voting contest
• Hashtag contest

• Video contest

To discover more about different contest types that can be organised and managed on the Judgify platform, check out our Solutions section.

Best contest and giveaway theme ideas for the art industry

These are creative tweet contests with a given hashtag (e.g., tweets about why users love someone’s art plus the themed hashtag).

Architectural Photography

This consists of photographs of buildings and structures that are both aesthetically pleasing and accurate representations of their subjects. Architectural photographers are usually skilled in the use of specialised techniques and cameras.

Liquid Art (Voting)

Also known as fluid art, acrylic pouring is a fun, creative way to make abstract art. The basic techniques, like dirty pour, and many others can be used in these creative contests.

Shadow Photography

Using shadow photography correctly can make a scene much more dramatic and atmospheric. Ask entrants to demonstrate a few great tricks to show their mastery. 

Watercolors

Host a contest for watercolor or aquarelle painting methods in which the paints are made of pigments suspended in water-based colors.

Costume / Cosplay Photography

Cosplay photography has become incredibly popular, and it makes for a great arts contest. The rapid growth in attendees wearing costumes of characters increases cosplay photography popularity and engagement for your contest.

Nightmares

Terrifying nightmares and conditions used to create surreal photography will be a non-standard idea for an art contest that people will be curious to try.

Cloud Artwork

Check out some cloud art ideas for the very best in unique or custom production as well as handmade pieces and other art contest theme ideas for your art participants.

Prize ideas

Here are the best art contest prize ideas you can apply in your events practice.

• Coupons (everyone loves discounts!) 
• Themed giveaway ideas 
• Gift cards
• Cash prizes
• Place at the gallery
• Free exhibition
• Collaboration with famous painters
• Everyday items with your gallery’s brand on them. 
• A package of your products (to maximise the appeal)
• Lead up to the grand prize giveaway

And more!

Identifying your contest idea

Ask your target audience about contest ideas for the art industry, particularly if they have suggestions for new trends, objectives, and motives. Then, give a prize to the person who comes up with the best idea or simply invite him/her to become a participant/judge for a current/future event. This is a great way to crowdsource your contest prize ideas and identify other contest ideas worth running in the future.

Tips

How should you organise a successful event: by role, type, or industry? Here are some tips on art contest ideas for students and others.

• Define your target audience
• Set contest objectives
• Set yourself up for social engagement
• Add social sharing to art exhibition pages
• Keep an eye on the competition
• Make yourself easy to contact/find
• Create a great promotional campaign
•  Make use of the artists’ images in your marketing
• Ask professionals for help
• Create an arts contest website
• Integrate social media platforms

After you analyse your target audience, contest objectives, and budget requirements, you can pick the best practice for your needs and get the most from your audience engagement. 

Call to action

Register right away to market your arts events, sell more art items, and simply enjoy organising contests and measuring your event success.

Contest management

Your arts event lifecycle may include communication, social media integration, optimization, and adjustment of solutions as well as judging, marketing, planning and preparation, analysis and reports, and more. These are all integral parts of contest management and should be included in your event budget. Whenever you use YouTube, Instagram, your blog, a contest landing page, gallery pages, official social media accounts, or other features to manage your contest, combine them by using reliable contest marketing solutions. These resonate within those networks where speed, novelty, and hashtags are crucial, and they may also be integrated into other platforms and networks.

Conclusion

Competitions are some of the most popular and fun activities to increase engagement and appreciation for art. Art centers, galleries, and the art market as a whole always need fresh blood. Your creative contest ideas will help artists promote themselves and get noticed by the curators, so participating in contests first will help those same artists better prepare their work for exhibitions – from the formation and refinement of the idea to the choice of media and materials. 

Sign up to start your arts contest right away!

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