Bettie Awards

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About the Elizabeth Barker Delaplaine Award for Young Artists Program

Bettie Delaplaine was a lifelong supporter of the arts in Frederick County, Maryland. Her strong belief in the importance of the arts in our community, and the importance of supporting young emerging artists, inspired The Delaplaine Arts Center to create the Elizabeth Barker Delaplaine Award for Young Artists–affectionately known as the Bettie Awards–in her honor. The award program is an annual event run in March, nationally recognized as Youth Art Month.

The program has several goals:

To help young artists gain experience in submitting their own artwork for review and exhibition
To provide an experience of having their artwork judged and understand the importance of presentation
To provide an accomplishment that can be added to college, art school, or professional applications

You can view a short introductory video about the program here.

Awards for the Bettie Awards is sponsored in part through the generosity of the Frederick County Art Association.

Bettie Award Grand Prize Winner: $1,000
Other Bettie Award Winners: $100 each
People’s Choice Award Winner: $250

2025 Important Dates

February 1, 2025 • Entry deadline
February 8, 2025 • Bettie Award Winners announced via Facebook
February 17–23, 2025 • Artwork to be delivered to the Delaplaine for exhibition
March 1, 2025 • Exhibition opening, awards presentation, and Bettie Award Grand Prize Winner announced
April 27, 2025 • Exhibition closes; last day to vote for People’s Choice Award Winner
April 27–April 28, 2025 • Artwork pick-up

Application Guidelines

Artists residing or attending school in Frederick County, Maryland, in grades 9–12 (public, private, or homeschooled) are invited to apply for the awards. There is no application fee. Applications must be submitted by the due date at 11:59 pm EST. Teachers: PLEASE encourage your students to complete the submission process on their own. Submitted artwork:

Must have been created by the applicant within the past two years
Must not measure more than 5 feet in any direction
Can be in any medium

IMPORTANT: Artists who are selected as Bettie Award Winners are required to properly prepare their artwork for exhibit installation. Judges consider presentation an important factor when selecting the Bettie Award Grand Prize Winner, and will not award the prize to artwork that is incomplete or poorly presented, regardless of its artistic merit.

Application process:

Artists must enter their artwork through the online EntryThingy portal.
In order to access EntryThingy, artists must first create a login and password.
Only one submission per artist will be accepted.

Guidelines and dates are subject to change. Contact the Exhibitions Manager with questions about the guidelines or the application process.

Selection & Awards

Bettie Awards judges will select winners based on the following criteria:

Originality
Composition
Success in communicating message
Creativity
Presentation (second round judging)

A first round jury of Delaplaine instructors will review the submissions and select at least 10 artists to be named Bettie Award Winners. Selected artworks must be delivered to the Delaplaine by the date due for an exhibition that will take place opening teh first Saturday in March.

A separate, second-round jury of made up of several artists from throughout the region will select one artwork from among the award winners to be named the Bettie Award Grand Prize Winner. The Bettie Award Grand Prize Winner will receive $1,000. All other Bettie Award winners will receive $100. Award winners are expected to attend the awards presentation and exhibition opening.

Visitors will be invited to vote for their favorite work of art from among the Bettie Award Winners throughout the duration of the exhibition. The artwork that receives the most votes will be named the People’s Choice Award Winner and receive $250.

The Bettie Award Grand Prize Winner will be featured in an article in Delaplaine Arts magazine, distributed throughout the region. Images of other Bettie Award artworks may be shared for publication in local print and online media, and used in promotion for subsequent Bettie Award programs.