8th Annual GFAA Awards OPEN CALL has ended

The 8th Annual GFAA Awards open call period is over!

Thank you for your submissions.

This year’s carefully selected award categories reflect the impact of covid on many institutions’ limitations to actually open exhibitions – We honor all of the exceptional work done by museums and other institutions around the world, despite particularly challenging conditions. And, as always, we look forward to celebrating this year’s nominees in the fall!

Global Planet

Global Humanity

Public Art or Outdoor Installation

Digital Exhibition or Program

Fringe (Mixed Categories)

Dates: All submissions must be for projects installed between August 1, 2020 and July 31, 2021.

Selected Nominees will be notified via email in the fall; please refer to our social media and website for the final judges’ list by  October 1, 2021

About the Program

Global Fine Art Awards (GFAA) is the first annual award program ever created to recognize the best curated art and design exhibitions and installations around the world. The research and judging criteria are innovation and excellence in exhibition design, historical context, educational value, and public appeal. This year is the eighth edition.

Art Research Process

Throughout the year, the GFAA Art Research Committee looks for the best exhibitions and installations across the globe.The committee relies on and thoroughly reviews over 50 sources of art critique and editorial as the basis for its research and selection of nominees, vetting more than 2,000 exhibitions during the process.

Selection and Voting 

In August, the GFAA Nominating Committee convenes to review the list of all potential nominees. It deliberates to select a proposed slate, and the Judges vote.

This year’s nominees will be announced in October 2021.

GFAA will announce the nominees via press release and on the GFAA website. The winners will be announced live at the award ceremony in Spring 2022.

The seventh edition of GFAA, awarded in May 2021, featured 116 nominees from 31 countries, 68 cities and 6 continents. 15 winners were selected by GFAA Judges.

Two additional awards, Youniversal and YOU-2, are determined by online and social media public voting. All nominees are eligible to win these coveted awards.

GFAA Judges

The GFAA Jury is comprised of these highly-esteemed art professionals:

– Savita Apte, Art historian and lecturer specializing in Modern and Contemporary South Asian Art

– Dr. James M. Bradburne, Director General of the Pinacoteca di Brera and the Biblioteca Braidense, Milan

– Gina Costa, Art historian and curator, previously at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Art Institute of Chicago

– Dr. Joe Lin-Hill, Deputy Director of the Albright-Knox Art Gallery

– Dean Phelus, American Alliance of Museum’s Senior Director of Leadership Programs

GFAA Research and Nominating Committee

-Research Chair Kimberly Lin– BA in Art History in modern and contemporary art from the UC Berkeley; Degree in fashion design from Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising; Post War Contemporary Art program, Sotheby’s London

– Nominating Committee Chair Betsie Piussan– MBA from NYU; BA Stanford University, studied at l’Université de Paris and l’Ecole du Louvre, Design Certificate NY School of Interior Design

-Peter Trippi– Editor-in-Chief, Fine Art Connoisseur magazine; GFAA Judge Emeritus

-Salwa Mikdadi– Associate Professor of Art History, NYU Abu Dhabi

-Patricia Lannes– Founder of Cultures and Literacies through Art for the 21st Century; Chair, Global Latino Network AAM

-Renee Farina– Biennale di Firenze (Florence) International Selection Committee; formerly of Christie’s Masters, Modern and Contemporary Departments, former GFAA Research Committee Chair

What Selected Nominees receive

All nominees will be featured in extensive marketing, social media, public relations and remain permanently on the GFAA website. Additionally, GFAA creates uniquely curated videos  featuring some of the most popular nominees, which are shown at the Award Ceremony, posted on the website and social media channels.  Nominees are invited to the Award Ceremony in the Spring 2022, when all are celebrated and the Winners will be revealed live!

Each year, all GFAA nominees are featured and recognized widely throughout the global art community – with many VIPs attending our events!  Here are highlights from the first six years: