Arquivo F2719 - The Kingston Prize fonds

The Kingston Prize, Canada's Portrait Competition, was founded by Kaaren and Julian Brown, who first settled in Kingston in 1962. The main inspiration for the project was the exciting and controversial Archibald Prize for portraits, held annually in Sydney, Australia. Julian had grown up in Sydney and recalls seeing the Archibald exhibition as a teenager. In the late 1960s, Julian and Kaaren, who had grown up in Illinois, lived in Sydney for several years and were reminded of the huge public interest in the Archibald. After several visits to Australia for family events in the 1990s, they became intrigued with the idea of a prize for contemporary portraits in Canada and began to explore the possibilities. They organized the first competition, held in 2005, and donated the prize money that year. They named the event The Kingston Prize in honour of the city where they had raised their family. Since then they have continued to organize the competitions, which are held every two years.

The Kingston Prize is a competition for recent portraits of Canadians by Canadian artists, and has been held every two years beginning in 2005. The value of the prize was initially $3,000 but with the support of the W. Garfield Weston Foundation it has grown to $20,000 in 2011, making it one of the largest prizes in the visual arts. The Kingston Prize currently offers three cash prizes. The grand prize, The Kingston Prize, is awarded to one winner as selected by the jury, and amounts to $20,000. There are also two Honourable Mention awards, each valued at $1,000. In addition to these three cash prizes, at each location on the exhibition tour, a People's Choice Prize is awarded based on votes by visitors to the exhibition.