Last year’s Hunting Prize winner, Kevin Peterson. Fire, oil on panel.
The Hunting Art Prize is a big deal in Texas. Only one winner is chosen for the cash prize of $50,000. But the rules are a bit stiff.
Entrants must be over 18 and from Texas (with a valid ID), submit only one work— either a 2-D painting or drawing (no printmaking, photography, collage, assemblage, sculpture, relief, found object, or computer-generated works), and the work cannot exceed 72” on any side. If selected as a finalist, participants must be able to attend the Hunting Art Prize gala on April 30, with their submitted artwork, for exhibition. If any finalist is unable to attend, Hunting PLC reserves the right to choose a new finalist from all eligible entries.
The Hunting Prize is awarded annually by Hunting PLC, an energy services company, during the Offshore Technology Conference (OTC), a major international trade show for offshore oil drilling that occurs in Houston. The award was established in the UK in 1981 and relocated to Houston in 2006.
The artists who followed the rules and met the deadline (which was November 30) are still anxiously waiting to hear if they made the finalists list. That list is not out yet, but the Hunting folk have just announced their jurors, which is always revealed after the submission deadline. Nervous Hunting entrants can now do some research on these people to decide if they made the right decision on their submitted works. Fret away!
- Catherine Behrend, Former Deputy of the New York City Public Art Program, who now serves as an Adjunct Assistant Professor at New York University’s School of Professional Studies diploma program
- Alex Gregory, Curator of Art at the Amarillo Museum of Art
- Alexander Rich, Assistant Professor of Art History at Florida Southern College and Director of the Melvin and Burks Art Galleries
