The Exhibit

Gather at the Hirshhorn Museum to meet the seven artists and the contest’s lead judge, Museum Director Melissa Chiu. Then see the group tackle their first big challenge: creating a compelling piece focused on the theme of gender in just 10 hours.

Head back to the studio with the seven artists, who mix humour with thoughtfulness to create social-media-themed pieces in just one day. Find out whose work wows the guest judges, MICA president Samuel Hoi and digital strategist JiaJia Fei.

Go on an emotional journey with the seven artists, who tell their global-pandemic survival stories through their artwork. Explore themes of grief, loss, family, and joy, then get a peek inside a moving tribute curated by Museum Director Melissa Chiu.

Contemplate justice as Museum Director Melissa Chiu reviews some of the most powerful, large-scale pieces on this theme ever displayed at the Hirshhorn. Then see how the seven artists showcase a profound injustice in their own work.

Get a glimpse inside the artists’ lives as they reimagine a past work and reinterpret it for the future. Map their evolution as creators and see who struggles to complete their piece in the allotted time of just 10 hours over two days.

Feel the pressure when the seven artists take their final shot at the big commission and the cash prize. Get inspired as each one completes a self-portrait in only eight hours, then see whose crowning achievement wins them a shot at the big time.