The Young Painter Prize, a youth painting project that has been running for seventeen years in the Baltic states, is expanding its geography this year and will be presented in Panevėžys for the first time. From December 4 until January 19, 2026, the exhibition of the 2025 competition finalists will be on display at the creativity center Pragiedruliai. Visitors will be able to view it free of charge.
The Young Painter Prize is one of the most important contemporary art competitions in the Baltic region, dedicated to discovering and showcasing painters aged 18–33 from Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, and since 2022, Ukraine.
The growing scale of the project and the record number of participants show that the Young Painter Prize is becoming a significant Baltic art platform where contemporary painting opens up to experimentation and new media.
At the awards ceremony held in Riga, this year’s competition winners were announced. The main Young Painter Prize was awarded to Estonian artist August Joost, while the Luminor Youth Empowerment Award went to Latvian artist Ieva Kampe-Krumholca. The jury also presented commendation awards to Latvian artist Katrīna Levāne, Ukrainian artist Stefan Stoikov, and Lithuanian artist Mantas Valentukonis.
All winning and finalist works will be presented in Panevėžys, marking the first exhibition of this scale at Pragiedruliai and signaling a new stage for the project, strengthening the city’s position on the cultural map of the Baltic region.
The exhibition will offer visitors the chance to closely explore the diversity of young painters’ creativity, themes, and visual experiments that reflect both regional and international art trends. Nearly 30 artworks will be exhibited. The exhibition architecture at Pragiedruliai is designed by Tomas Styra.
The project’s founder, Vilmantas Marcinkevičius, emphasizes that the mission of the competition has remained unchanged since 2009 – to provide young artists the opportunity to be noticed, receive professional recognition, and build a strong springboard for an international career.
The main sponsors of the project are Luminor Bank and the Lithuanian Council for Culture. Partners include the Latvian Academy of Arts, Tartu Art House Kunstimaja, the Pragiedruliai Creativity Center, Pamėnkalnis Gallery, APB Walless COF, Semarah Hotels, and other private supporters from the Baltic countries.
The opening of the Young Painter Prize finalists’ exhibition at Pragiedruliai (Ukmergės g. 59a, Panevėžys) will take place on December 4 at 6 p.m.
The finalists’ works will be available for viewing in Panevėžys until January 19, 2026. In Estonia, at Tartu Art House Kunstimaja, the exhibition will run from January 30 to March 1 next year.