Teen Portrait Competition, 2025
The Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery presents the winners and finalists of the 2025 Teen Portrait Competition in a video presentation on the museum’s second floor. The exhibition features photographic portraits by 19 teenage finalists, including winning works by Matilda Myers of Maryland and Kate Stermer of California. Together, the photographs explore identity and subjects such as tradition, mental health, sibling relationships, conformity, and personal experience.
The triennial competition is open to U.S. students ages 13 to 17, including students in the country’s territories. More than 1,100 anonymous submissions came from students in 48 states, Guam, Puerto Rico, and Washington, D.C. The Teen Museum Council first reduced the entries to 40 semifinalists, after which three council members and artist Caitlin Teal Price conducted the final judging. The presentation appears alongside “The Outwin 2025: American Portraiture Today,” which features artists age 18 and older.
When: January 24 through August 30, 2026.
Showtimes: The photographs are presented in a video presentation available during the exhibition’s run; no specific showtimes are listed.
Venue: National Portrait Gallery.
Location: Second floor, North Galleries.
Competition: The competition is divided into two age groups. Matilda Myers won the 13–15 category, and Kate Stermer won the 16–17 category.
Winning works: Matilda Myers’s “Rest,” a 2024 photograph showing a ballerina resting with a pickaxe in an image that contrasts masculine and feminine associations, won the 13–15 category. Kate Stermer’s “The Cost of Conformity,” a 2024 black-and-white portrait of a teenage girl manipulating cars with marionette strings, won the 16–17 category.
Finalists, ages 13–15: Leah Beaudet, “His Favorite Role Model”; Irene Chang, “Reflection in a TV Screen”; Celine Ding, “The Daily Cut”; Ella Kurhajec, “Sisters”; Aubree Meyer, “Forget Her”; Serra Zeyneb Sablak, “My Star”; Caydence Silva, “Sound Waves”; Stellar Slentz-Baeb, “Reflection”; and Ashley Slingluff, “Lacrosse Royalty.”
Finalists, ages 16–17: Catherine Buchholz, “Sonder”; Rylie Chanthavong, “Untitled”; Sarah Fernandez, “Come on, Smile!”; Ethan Fabrizio Hoyos Hernandez, “Untitled”; Sophia Eren Laming, “A Surface of Reflection”; Kimberly Nadler, “Alone in the Underbrush”; Rain Pair, “Feeling Blue”; and Aissatou Toure, “The Beauty of Seasons.”
Eligibility: The competition is for students ages 13 to 17 who reside in the United States or its territories.
Selection process: The Teen Museum Council, made up of high school students from Washington, D.C., Maryland, and Virginia, reviewed the submissions and selected 40 semifinalists. Three council members and artist Caitlin Teal Price, who works in Washington, D.C., and New York, selected the finalists and winners.
Tickets: Price not available.
Accessibility: No accessibility information is provided in the page text.