Media Advisory - Press preview for the new exhibition, “The Outwin 2016: American Portraiture Today”

WHAT:          Press preview for the new exhibition, “The Outwin 2016: American Portraiture Today” and announcement of the winner of the Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition

WHEN:          Friday, March 11;  10–11:30 a.m.

WHERE:       National Portrait Gallery. Eighth and G streets N.W.

WHO:            

Kim Sajet, director, National Portrait Gallery
Dorothy Moss, associate curator of painting and sculpture and competition director

The award-winning artists: Jess T. Dugan, St. Louis; Jessica Todd Harper, Merion Station, Pa.; Cynthia Henebry, Richmond, Va.; Sedrick Huckaby, Fort Worth, Texas; Daniel James McInnis, Perrysburg, Ohio; Joel Daniel Phillips, Oakland, Calif.; and Amy Sherald, Baltimore

On March 11, the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery will announce the names of the award-winning artists of the exhibition resulting from the fourth Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition. Seven artworks were shortlisted for the competition. The first-prize winner receives $25,000 and a commission to create a portrait of a living individual for the museum’s permanent collection. Other cash prizes will be awarded for selected works.

“The Outwin 2016: American Portraiture Today” features 43 artworks and will run from March 12 through Jan. 8, 2017. This year’s competition received more than 2,500 entries in a variety of visual-arts media, including sculpture, mixed media, photographs, paintings and drawings. 

Held every three years, the Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition is made possible by a gift from volunteer and benefactor Virginia Outwin Boochever (1920–2005). The competition invites artists all over America to investigate the art of contemporary portraiture. The resulting exhibition celebrates excellence and innovation, with a strong focus on the variety of portrait media used by artists today.

For a list of artists whose works were selected for the exhibition, see this release. For live, up-to-the-minute updates about the exhibition, use the hashtag #Outwin to connect with the museum’s Twitter, Instagram and Facebook accounts.

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