Open Call | Sarah Cecilia Harrison Essay Prize 2025 from The National Gallery of Ireland
The National Gallery of Ireland is delighted to launch the fourth year of the Sarah Cecilia Harrison Essay Prize. This award marks Sarah Cecilia Harrison’s legacy in the arts and as a social campaigner and will recognise the best new research and writing, telling the stories of women and Ireland’s visual culture, including fine art, design and craft.
The prize is open to all members of the public over 18 years of age. The author of the winning essay will be awarded a €1,000 prize at a reception held in the National Gallery of Ireland on 13 November 2025.
This prize is generously supported by the descendants of the sister of Sarah Cecilia Harrison, Beatrice Chisholm.
(Image credit: Antonio Mancini (1852-1930), Sarah Cecilia Harrison (1836-1941), Artist, 1909)
Your essay
Must relate to women who have contributed to Ireland’s visual culture or Irish women who have worked in the visual arts abroad
Must be new and previously unpublished
Must be written in English only
No longer than 5000 words in length, inclusive of cover pages, footnotes and endnotes
How to submit
Email your entry to scharrisonessayprize@ngi.ie before midnight (IST) on Friday 19 September 2025..
You must include the following information in the body of your email:
Your full name
Your address
Your telephone number
Your date of birth
A statement of permission for the Gallery to share your name and locality (if shortlisted) with press, media and other promotional purposes in connection with the competition, including on the Gallery’s social media platforms
Social media handles (optional)
You must add the following documents as attachments (either as Word documents or PDFS) to your email:
Essay
500-word abstract
200-500 word biography of the author
Include your full name in the filename of each document.
Closing date
Complete entries must be emailed to scharrisonessayprize@ngi.ie by midnight (IST) on Friday 19 September 2025.