The Original Art is an annual exhibit (46th) created to showcase illustrations from the year’s best children’s books published in the U.S. This juried exhibition considers hundreds of books with 2025 and 2026 publication dates. A panel of renowned illustrators, art directors, and designers selects over 200 works for display at the Museum of Illustration. Top books are awarded Gold and Silver Medals, and newcomers are eligible for the Dilys Evans Founder’s Award. All accepted pieces are reproduced in full color in a printed catalog, and a reception is held during New York’s Illustration Week.
The entry submission process for The Original Art 2026 will be completely electronic and will be hosted here our BRAND NEW COMPETITION SITE!
No data from our previous site carried over, so everyone will have to create a new account by clicking REGISTER. If you submitted to our 68th Annual Competition, you can use the same account.
Creating an Account
- Go to competitions.societyillustrators.org and click “Register” or “Enter”
- Input your email and solve the Captcha math problem
- By creating an account you will automatically be sent to your Dashboard and receive an email with a temporary password that can be updated at a later time.
Instructional Walkthrough
Preparing Your Book Submission Files
- JPEG image file of your book’s front cover (1mb – 10mb max).
- PDF of the entire book in spread viewing format (1mb – 10mb max, around 144 DPI).
Entering Your Book Submission and required fields
- Within your Dashboard you will see that the Original Art Show is open for entries.
- Illustrators submitting their own book(s), please select Individual in the drop down. If you are a publishing house submitting on someone else’s behalf please select Art Director/Rep/Agent.
- You will be asked for the Title of your book, the illustrator’s name, the medium, editor, author, art director, publisher, imprint (if applicable).
- You will notice a checkbox under the credit information that says “Nominate for Dilys Evans Founders Award.” This Award is specifically for newcomers in the feild of children’s book illustration. To be eligible, an artist may have no more than three books published in the U.S & the artist must not have won the award before. It is the responsibility of those submitting work to be honest about their eligibility for this award.
- The Contact Info portion of the entry is who should be the primary contact regarding entry status.
- Click “Submit Entry”
- Once all required fields are completed, the work will show in the In-Progress tab. Submissions are filled out one entry at a time, though multiple entries will display in the In Progress tab and can be paid once added to the cart in the top right. Entries will remain in the In Progress tab until they are added to your cart!
- You will see a box with a thumbnail image of the book cover you uploaded. This means that the site accepted the entry. If you wish to enter another submission, you may do so on this page now by selecting “Add New Entry” There is also the Trash and Edit option.
Payment Options
The cost for submitting work is $25 per title for SI Illustrator and Corporate members, $40 per title for non-members. Members should reach out prior to payment to ensure they are billed the correct amount. Please note: The order is not completed until you proceed to the cart and receive an email receipt!
Once all your entries are added to the cart, you can Proceed to Checkout. There you can pay via credit card, Stripe, or you can select Check Payments.
The Billing Address can reflect a Company/School on the receipt. There is also the option to add a Customer Note, which is also added to the receipt.
ELIGIBLE FOR SUBMISSION
- All entries must be published in the United States, books printed overseas are eligible.
- Books © 2025 and 2026 will be accepted.
- Books must be intended for children from newborn to age twelve.
- Chapter books must have at least eight full-page illustrations.
- Books rendered in traditional and / or digital media are eligible.
NOT ELIGIBLE
- Books illustrated with A.I.-generated or A.I.-assisted art.
- Self-published books.
- Books for teens i.e. children over age twelve.
- Books entered into previous years’ competition.
- Photographic books.
- Textbooks.
- Consumable activity books.
- Books based on licensed characters.
- Anthologies with multiple, independent illustrators.
Please note: Works accepted into the exhibition will be subjected to a Hanging Fee Payment of $65 per title of Non-Members, and $50 per title for SI Members. The Publisher/Artist are responsible to send hang-ready framed artwork for the exhibition. The Society will not cover any fees related to shipment.
