Young Painters, U.S. residents, ages 25 – 35 as of competition entry are invited to participate in an annual juried competition for the 2025 $10,000 William and Dorothy Yeck Award. Entrants should have achieved a significant degree of success as an emerging artist of noteworthy talent. The Yeck Award winning artwork becomes part of the Miami University Painters of the 21st Century Collection.
Juror
2025: Alexis Rockman
Alexis Rockman, a painter based in Warren, Connecticut, is an environmental activist who began making paintings and works on paper to build environmental awareness in the mid-1980s, embarking on expeditions to distant locations like Antarctica and Madagascar in the company of professional naturalists. His work tells stories of natural histories confronting the dystopian future of the biodiversity crisis, global warming, and genetic engineering. Rockman’s work has been exhibited around the world and showcased at prestigious galleries and museums including the Venice Biennale, Carnegie Museum of Art, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Serpentine Galleries, and many more. Rockman also worked on the 2012 movie Life of Pi with Ang Lee, as “Inspirational Artist” Alexis Rockman: Oceanus, a major exhibition premiered at Mystic Seaport Museum and Mark Dion and Alexis Rockman: Journey to Nature’s Underworld, opened at the Tang Teaching Museum in July 13th, 2024, the first two-person exhibition of these closely allied artists. The show will tour to four additional museums.
Competition Awards
$10,000 William and Dorothy Yeck Purchase Award $2,500 Second Place Award $2,000 Third Place Award
Your Entry
Your entry / submission is to consist of the following: (Incomplete or late entries will be rejected) Send entry via email listed below
Entry Form and Artist Contract
Submission of Paintings: 2-5 entries; no dimension exceeding 72 inches, artworks completed within the past three years demonstrating the scope and depth of your work. All works submitted must be available for the exhibition and purchase award and cannot be a part of public or private collection. (Exhibition dates: January/March 2025.) All images submitted should be JPG, 5” x 7”, approx., 355 dpi, RGB color mode. Juror will choose 10 finalists and 2 works from each finalist. A word document, titled, Image List, should be included with your entry, with the following information per image entry: Artist name, Title of work, Year of work, Media, Dimensions in inches and an image of the artwork. Also include a 1-2 page CV.
The 10 Finalists chosen by our 2025 Juror will be notified in mid/late October 2024. Images of the finalists' works will be retained by Miami University. Artworks of finalists to arrive the week of December 2, 2024. The $10,000 Yeck Purchase Award winner will be invited to have a solo exhibition and serve as a visiting artist to coincide with the 2026 competition. Participation in the exhibition entry process and signing the entry form, constitutes an understanding and acceptance of the conditions set forth herein, including the right of Miami University to use submitted images for publicity and educational purposes.
All artworks submitted must be available for the exhibition and for the Yeck Purchase Award. Artwork entries cannot be part of a public or private collection.
Shipping
All finalists will assume the cost of shipment and insurance of artworks to Miami University. Works must be packed in reusable crates/boxes and constructed to withstand the rigors of commercial shipping. Finalists are responsible for the repair of damaged crates before the works are returned. Works may also be hand-delivered. Hand-delivered works must also be picked-up from Miami University. Miami will assume the cost of return shipping of the finalists' paintings, shipped and insured as delivered to Miami University.
