Lynchburg, VA, US—Art Jewelry Forum (AJF) is pleased to announce the 2026 AJF Young Artist Award, supported by Karen and Michael Rotenberg—the 22nd cycle of this prestigious prize.  

The competition, held every two years, recognizes innovative work created by a jewelry artist early in their career. Through the Young Artist Award, Art Jewelry Forum supports new and exciting work that will inspire future developments in the field.

Ambitious contemporary jewelry artists aged 35 and under are invited to apply for this international prize in contemporary art jewelry, which includes US$7,500 for the winner, as well as an exhibition at Platina during Schmuck—also known as Munich jewelry week—in March 2026, for the winner and four finalists.

The benefits of winning ripple out beyond the financial; past recipients have described the prize as boosting their energy and motivation, and the sense of encouragement and support they received from the field enhanced their confidence. The award has advanced their careers by virtue of increased exposure, networking connections, and exhibition opportunities.

For the fourth cycle in a row, the AJF Young Artist Award competition is generously supported by the collectors Karen and Michael Rotenberg, whose collection focuses on the innovative use of alternative materials by emerging and mid-career artists. AJF is deeply grateful for their commitment, which provides a prize of US$7,500 for the winner; US$1,000 awards for each of the four finalists; and a travel allowance of US$1,000 each for the winner and the finalists who travel to Munich to receive their award. AJF is also grateful to Sofia Björkman, of the Stockholm-based gallery Platina, for providing a venue to display the work of the winner and finalists.

Find the competition guidelines and application form here. (The guidelines and link also appear below.) Submissions are being accepted now through November 9, 2025.

The jury this year consists of Bryan Parnham (US), Thereza Pedrosa (Italy and Netherlands), and Jimena Ríos (Argentina). 

Bryan Parnham won the 2024 AJF Young Artist Award. He is an American artist and jeweler. A graduate of Virginia Commonwealth University, he has been a resident artist and lecturer at various universities and institutions across the US and abroad. Notably, he was awarded the Core Fellowship at Penland School of Craft; was a resident artist in Cortona, Italy, with the University of Georgia; and featured in the Museum of Arts and Design show MAD about Jewelry in 2022. Parnham is currently pursuing new work as a full time artist.

Thereza Pedrosa is an art historian, independent curator, author, and gallery owner with extensive international experience in contemporary art and jewelry. She is the founder of the Thereza Pedrosa Gallery and the creator of the Orizzonti d’Autore biennial and the Archeometra Lifetime Achievement Award. Over the past 15 years, she has curated exhibitions for museums, galleries, and institutions across Europe, while also contributing essays to key publications in the field. Her background includes both academic research and hands-on design, having worked as a jewelry designer and as scientific coordinator for the Peggy Guggenheim Collection’s exhibition Revealing Papers. Deeply committed to promoting art jewelry as an art form, she brings a curatorial vision that combines scholarly depth with a drive to open contemporary jewelry to a broader public.

Jimena Ríos lives and works in Buenos Aires, Argentina. She studied jewelry at the Escola Massana (Barcelona, Spain). She is finishing an MA in curatorial studies at UNTREF (Buenos Aires). In 2013, Ríos founded Taller Eloi, a jewelry school in Buenos Aires. She works as an educator, curator, and editor. Together with Iris Eichenberg, she organized the Hand Medal Project.

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APPLICATION GUIDELINES

PURPOSE OF AWARD
To acknowledge innovation and individuality in the work of a contemporary jewelry artist who:

• Is early in their career
• Has created an independent body of work
• Shows potential for continuing to create new work and is rigorous in their approach to creating and producing new, exciting, and thoughtful viewpoints

And to advance the career of a promising artist.

AWARD

• Unrestricted cash award of US$7,500 for the winner
• Unrestricted cash award of US$1,000 each for four (4) finalists
• The winner will be recognized as a member of AJF on AJF’s website for one year
• Separate interviews will be conducted with the winner and each of the four (4) finalists, to be published on AJF’s website in the spring and summer of 2026

JURORS
This year’s jury will consist of:

• Artist Bryan Parnham (US), the winner of the 2024 AJF Young Artist Award
• Gallerist Thereza Pedrosa (Italy and Netherlands)
• Maker and educator Jimena Rios (Argentina)

ENTRY CRITERIA

• The applicant must be a maker of wearable art jewelry
• The applicant must be 35 years of age or younger on the date of the application deadline (which is November 9, 2025)
• The applicant cannot be currently enrolled in a formal academic degree program (BS/BA, MS/MS/MFA, etc.) or a vocational training program; eligibility of applicants enrolled in a PhD program will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis
• Work submitted must have been unsupervised; work from thesis and/or graduate degree shows is not eligible
• Submitted work must have been completed within the previous two years, i.e., for the 2026 award, work must be completed between 2024 and 2025
• Applicants who have applied previously must submit new work, i.e., work submitted for a prior AJF Young Artist Award application may not be resubmitted in the current application

APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS AND INSTRUCTIONS
The following information must be submitted in English via the CaFÉ website. 

Note: The application fee is waived for members of AJF at a level of US$50 and above. Join by end-of-day on November 7, 2025, to receive the fee waiver code. Discount member codes will be emailed to active, new, and renewing members on Fridays. (Check your membership status here. Join here.)(Check your membership status here. Join here.)

• Current resume (one page long maximum)*
• Artist statement relating to the work submitted, maximum 1000 characters*
• Date of birth (you must be 35 years of age or younger on the application deadline of November 9, 2025)
• Whether you’re currently enrolled in a formal academic degree program (yes/no); if yes, you are not eligible
• If you’re represented by a gallery (yes/no); if yes, name(s) of gallery(ies)
• If you’ve applied for the Young Artist Award previously (yes/no); if yes, when
• How you learned about this competition (e.g., instructor; posting at school; curator; gallerist; SNAG News; magazine [specify]; social media; collector; former award winner; etc.)
• Level of professional training (BA, BFA, MA, MFA, PhD, or self-taught) and date of completion (month/year graduated) 
• A minimum of six and a maximum of 10 digital images showing up to eight pieces of work.*
• At least one image must show a piece being worn on the body
  One image must show the back or underside of a piece
• Image requirements: Follow the image requirements on the CaFÉ website
• Please note: If your application makes it to the finalist round, you will need to provide all submitted images at 300 dpi, landscape preferred, TIFF or JPEG, and file size 3000KB. The high-resolution images will be used by AJF for media and/or promotion
• Each image file must be labeled with the following*:
  1. Title of piece
  2. Year produced
  3. Dimensions in millimeters
  4. Materials
  5. Photo credit

*Do not include your name on the resume, artist statement, or images, as the jurying process is blind.

Applications close at 11:59 p.m., Mountain Time Zone (Denver, CO, USA), on November 9, 2025. Incomplete and late entries will not be accepted.

WINNER’S + FINALISTS’ RESPONSIBILITIES 

• The winning artist and finalists shall ensure delivery of work to AJF member gallery Platina for display during Munich Jewellery Week in March 2026
• The winning artist and finalists will be presented to the audience at the Internationale Handwerksmesse during Munich Jewellery Week 2026 (March 4–8, 2026). The winning artist must travel to Munich, Germany, on Saturday,  March 7, 2026, for the award ceremony, where they will deliver a 10-minute presentation about their work. The (winning) artist will arrange travel at their own expense but will receive a travel allowance of $1,000. 

The four finalists, though under no obligation, will be invited and encouraged to attend, and each will receive a travel allowance of $1,000 and will also arrange their own travel expenses. 

Applicants should be mindful of the time it might take to get a visa for Germany to receive the award. If a visa is needed, you should start the process of obtaining it now, even without knowing whether you will win. 

• The winning artist is expected to participate as a juror in the following AJF Young Artist Award competition in 2028 

AWARD NOTIFICATION

• Jury review will take place December 2025–January 2026
• Work will be judged on originality, depth of concept, continuity of design, and quality of craftsmanship
• There will be three rounds of review. The top 10–15% scoring artists in the first round of individual juror review will be moved to the second round. After the second round of individual review, the top scorers will advance to the third round, where the jury will meet to select the winner and four finalists 
• The winning artist will be notified in mid-February by telephone and email, and is expected to arrange travel to Munich Jewellery Week to be onstage when the award is formally presented
• The four finalists will also be notified by telephone and email in mid-February; finalists who can travel to Munich to be in attendance at the March 7, 2026, award ceremony will be offered a $1000 travel stipend
• All applicants will be informed by email after the winner and finalists have been notified in mid-February
• The winner and finalists will be presented at Munich Jewellery Week, between March 7, 2026

AJF does not discriminate based on age, ancestry, disability, family status, gender identity or expression, marital status, military status, national origin, race or color, religion or creed, sex or sexual orientation, or for any other reason.

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