XL Catlin and the New York Academy of Art have launched the U.S. edition of the XL Catlin Art Prize. The prize will have exhibitions in San Francisco, Chicago, and New York and a jury including major artists and curators.

Developed in partnership with the New York Academy of Art, the XL Catlin Art Prize is open to figurative paintings, drawings, and prints created by undergraduate and graduate art students. The competition focuses on the reemergence of figurative art in the contemporary art world.

According to Jennifer Schipf, senior vice president for fine art and specie insurance at XL Catlin, "After 10 years of running the program in the United Kingdom, we are delighted to launch the prize in the United States. The prize gives us the perfect platform to highlight new artists and provides a unique insight into emerging talent across the country."

The competition is structured around three rounds of jurying:

- Regional Jury: Faculty members from the prize's strategic advisory board will select from submissions in five regions (Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, South, West, and Midwest). The strategic advisory board consists of 22 art schools across the United States, including Yale School of Art, the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Columbia University School of Arts, California Institute of the Arts (CalArts), Pratt Institute, and Bard College.

- Exhibition Jury: Carrie Rebora Barratt, deputy director for collections at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Jennie Goldstein, assistant curator at the Whitney Museum, Laura Hoptman, curator at the Museum of Modern Art, and Kara Vander Weg, director at Gagosian Gallery will choose 40 artworks from the regional selections. These 40 pieces will tour in the fall of 2018, exhibiting at the San Francisco Art Institute (August 20 – October 7), Linda Warren Projects in Chicago (November 3 – 8) and the New York Academy of Art (November 21 – 29). The exhibition will be accompanied by an illustrated catalogue.

- Prize Jury: Consisting of painters Nicole Eisenman, Eric Fischl, and Amy Sherald, the prize jury will choose the first and second prize winners when the touring exhibition arrives in New York. First prize is $10,000 and second prize is $3,500. An audience award of $1,500 will be awarded via social media.

Applicants must be enrolled in a U.S. graduate or undergraduate art program. Submissions now are open. The deadline for all submissions is 11:00 p.m. EST on February 15, 2018.