Splash Art Competition Official Rules

Splash 26: The Best of Watercolor Art Competition OFFICIAL RULES

THIS IS NOT A GAME OF CHANCE. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW.

1. Entry Period. Entries in the Splash 26: The Best of Watercolor art competition (the “Contest”) must be submitted between 12:01 a.m. ET on August 15, 2024 and 11:59 p.m. ET on December 17, 2024. The Super Early Bird deadline for taking advantage of lowest entry fees is 11:59 p.m. ET on September 24, 2024 and the Early Bird deadline for taking advantage of reduced fees is 11:59p.m. ET on November 5, 2024.

2. Eligibility. Entrants must be at least 18 years of age or older and of the age of majority in their jurisdiction of residence. Employees of Sponsor, their parents, subsidiaries, affiliates, and divisions (the “Promotion Entities”), their immediate families (parent, child, sibling, spouse), and persons living in the same households of such individuals (whether related or not) are not eligible to participate in the Contest.

3. How to Enter. Enter as often as you like. Entries must be submitted as JPG digital files online at https://artistsnetworkcompetitions.awardsplatform.com during the Entry Period. Files must be under 5MB. Entrants should be prepared to send a high-resolution print-quality replacement file should their entry be selected as a Winner; detailed requirements will be provided at that time.

Entry fees are due with entries. Your record of the credit card or PayPal charge will be your receipt. Fees are as follows:

Super Early Bird Deadline: September 24, 2024

Entry Fee: $15 for Artists Network Members
Entry Fee: $25 for nonmembers

Early Bird Deadline: November 5, 2024

Entry Fee: $25 for Artists Network Members
Entry Fee: $35 for nonmembers

Final Deadline: December 17, 2024

Entry Fee: $30 for Artists Network Members
Entry Fee: $40 for nonmembers

4. Additional Requirements for Entries.

The dominant medium must be watercolor, though some minor use of other media may be acceptable. Similar water-based media such as gouache, casein or egg tempera are acceptable as the dominant medium if used on paper. Please note, acrylic paints, while water-based, are NOT acceptable as the dominant medium. You must specify any other media used in addition to watercolor in your application. 

Photography, except for minor elements incorporated in a collage, will NOT be considered. Sculpture will NOT be considered. Digital art will NOT be considered. Artwork assisted by artificial intelligence (AI) will NOT be considered. Entries are limited to two-dimensional artwork. Two-dimensional means that a mixed media cannot exceed one inch in depth.

All works must be original. “Original” means that the work must be from the hand of a single artist who submits the work for entry; pieces that originate from a workshop or a class under the direction of a teacher are not eligible. For works based on reference photographs, eligibility requires that the artist must have taken the photographs or have obtained written permission from the photographer to create the work and to enter it in the Contest. Reference images from royalty-free stock photography websites are acceptable. Artwork created using reference imagery generated by Artificial Intelligence (AI) will NOT be considered. Compositions based on published material or other artists’ work are NOT considered original and are not eligible.

By entering, you represent and warrant that your entry is your original work, that your entry does not infringe the rights of any third party, and that you have all the rights necessary to submit the entry and to assign the rights in the entry as described in the Limited Grant of Rights.

Works deemed unsuitable for publication or that do not meet above criteria, in the sole discretion of Sponsor, are not eligible. Sponsor will not refund entry fees to artists whose works are deemed unsuitable or fail to meet the stated criteria.

Entries that have already received a major award in a national or international juried exhibition or competition at the time of entry are not eligible. Entries previously accepted (as an award winner, honorable mention, or finalist) in any prior Sponsor competition or that have been published previously on AristsNetwork.com or in any Sponsor publication (Artists Magazine, Watercolor Artist, Pastel Journal and Southwest Art) are not eligible.

5. Limited Grant of Rights. By entering, you grant to Sponsor, its licensees and designees, the worldwide, irrevocable, perpetual, royalty-free right to use the entry in Sponsor’s magazines, on Sponsor’s websites, in Sponsor’s digital products, and in ads promoting future competitions, without further permission, compensation, or notification. You further agree that Sponsor shall have the right, but not the obligation, to use your name and/or photograph for the same purposes.

6. Judging and Notification. There will be a total of thirteen (13) Winners: one First Place Winner, one Second Place Winner, one Third Place Winner, and ten Honorable Mentions. Limit one (1) prize per entrant. All eligible entries will be judged in two rounds using the following criteria:

Artistic technique

Handling of medium

Design and creative elements

Overall impression/impact

Judging will be done by qualified judges using the same criteria in both rounds. The initial round of judging (pre-jurying round) will be performed by the editorial staff of Artists Magazine and Watercolor Artist Magazine and will identify approximately 150 entries for review by the Prize Judge, Steven Zhang, in the final round. The number of entries selected for review by the Prize Judge will be determined based on the number and quality of entries. The Prize Judge will select three prize winners and ten honorable mentions and an additional number of notable entries that would be eligible for a prize if a Potential Winner does not claim their prize or is disqualified for any other reason.

Judging in both rounds will be blind; no information regarding the entrants will be shared with any judge until all scoring has been made final. In the event of a tie, the entry with the highest score in overall impression/impact will be deemed the Winner. If there is still a tie, the judge will select the entry deemed to be the better entry overall.

Potential Winners will be notified within ninety (90) days of the close of the Entry Period, by email. Each Potential Winner will be required to complete and return an Affidavit of Eligibility and Compliance with Official Rules, a Publicity Release, and a Release of Liability within ten (10) days of notification. If a Potential Winner does not respond to notification or does not return the forms in the required time, the prize will go to the person with the next highest score.

7. Prizes. 

The First Place Winner will receive a $2,000 cash award

The Second Place Winner will receive a $1,000 cash award

The Third Place Winner will receive a $500 cash award

Ten (10) Honorable Mentions will receive a $50 gift card redeemable at ArtistsNetwork.com

All award winners will also receive a free Artists Network Membership for 1-year ($99.99 value), and a digital award-winner badge. Winning entries, PLUS an additional 100+ finalists, will be published in The Best of Watercolor (Summer 2025), presented by Artists Magazine and American Artist.

Total retail value of all prizes is $5,299.87.

If a portion of the prize becomes unavailable for any reason, Sponsor reserves the right to substitute a prize of the same approximate retail value. All federal, state and local taxes are the sole responsibility of the Winner.

8. Odds. Odds of winning depend on the number and quality of eligible entries. Sponsor cannot predict the number or quality of entries.

9. General Conditions. Void where prohibited. Any entrant suspected of tampering with or disrupting any aspect of the Contest will be disqualified. All decisions of Sponsor are final. By your participation in the Contest, you (i) agree to be bound by these Official Rules, (ii) agree to release, indemnify, and hold Sponsor, their affiliates, parents, subsidiaries, and divisions, and all of their officers, directors, employees, and agents harmless from any and all claims, liabilities, losses, and damages of any kind arising in whole or in part, directly or indirectly, from your participation in the Contest, from Sponsor’s use of your entry, or from your acceptance, possession, use, or misuse of any Prize, and (iii) agree that any dispute or claim will be resolved individually and without resort to class action.

10. Limitation of Liability. SPONSOR MAKES NO WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, OR NONINFRINGEMENT WITH RESPECT TO THE PRIZES. SOME JURISDICTIONS MAY NOT PERMIT LIMITATIONS OR EXCLUSION OF LIABILITY FOR INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES OR EXCLUSION OF IMPLIED WARRANTIES. CHECK YOUR LOCAL LAWS TO DETERMINE IF ANY OF THE ABOVE LIMITATIONS OR EXCLUSIONS MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU. Sponsor is not responsible for late, lost, misdirected, or unintelligible entries, including entries not received because of interrupted or unavailable network servers, failed communications networks or equipment, computer hardware or software, or other errors or malfunctions whether human, mechanical, or electronic. Should Sponsor, in its sole discretion, determine that the Contest has been compromised by virus, bugs, hackers, or other causes beyond its control, Sponsor reserves the right to terminate or revise the contest and choose the Winner in a fair and reasonable manner from among all eligible entries submitted prior to termination.

11. Privacy. With the exception of the Winner’s name, city, and state, information collected by Sponsor solely in connection with the Contest will not be shared with third parties unless expressly permitted by entrant at the time of entry.

12. Winner’s List. For the name, city, and state of the Winners, please send a request to [email protected] after the results have been made public and no later than December 31, 2025.

13. Sponsor. The Sponsor of the Contest is Peak Media Properties LLC d/b/a Golden Peak Media, 350 Indiana St., Suite 550, Golden, CO 80401.