The IADR Convention Juried Show will be open to all attending the 2025 Convention in Florence, Italy. The submission fee for a doll for the jury show is included with a convention registration otherwise a fee of 30 Euro will be charged. Each person is authorized only one entry for the juried show competition. To enter a doll in the competition, it must be delivered to the registration table at the scheduled convention time and picked up after the award presentation during the Banquet Dinner. The convention theme is "Shine the Light". The IADR is not responsible for any jury show entries not picked up prior to the end of the convention.
ADR juried events are open to all sculptors and makers of one-of-a-kind handmade sculpted art dolls - no matter the medium. Sculptured Artworks of all kinds are welcome in clay, paper-clay figurative sculpture, porcelain, polymer, or other like mediums. Fiber Arts is a separate category from the other mediums entries and will include all competition entries of wool/needlefelting and cloth dolls. Each category will have five separate skill levels being Novice, Intermediate, Advance, Professional, and Master. There will be an award opportunity for each level when meeting the competition requirement.
Acceptable Dolls for Competition Are*:
One-of-a-Kind handmade dolls that are human
One-of-a-Kind handmade busts
Ball Jointed Dolls (BJDs)
Fantasy (fairies, mermaids, fantasy animals, etc.)
Fantasy animals Anthropomorphic dolls (animals acting as humans with human characteristics). Anthropomorphic dolls would be dolls that are upright, presumed to be talking, dressed as humans, or acting as if human.
Any One-Of-A-Kind (OOAK) doll that is made from any material.
Dolls We Do Not Accept*:
Pre-manufactured dolls
Repaint Dolls
Fashion dolls
Standard stand-alone Animal, unless they are FANTASY Anthropomorphic animals
Inanimate objects
Jewelry such as necklaces, rings, pins or pendants.
* We reserve the right to amend the criteria as needed for clarification.
Dolls made in cold cast porcelain and other materials will be accepted as long as the work is original and unique to the submitting artist. Consideration will be given on a case by case basis for dolls outside the purview of those listed here.
Instead of the normal cash prize option for other IADR Juried Shows, the 2025 Convention Juried Show will present special awards for each skill level winners. The competition will include the regular skill levels for each of the two categories.
The IADR has divided the Juried Competition Artist's Skill Levels into 5 separate skill levels. They are:
Novice: An artist who has not won a major award in any previous competition.
Intermediate: An artist who has won the Novice level award in an IADR Juried Show or has won any major award in any other competitions.
Advance: An artist who has won the Intermediate level award in an IADR Juried Show or has won two or more major awards in any other competitions.
Professional: An artist who has won the Advance level award in an IADR Juried Show or an artist who teaches doll making and/or sells more than 6 dolls per year.
Master: A Master is an artist who has won the Professional or the Best Artist of the Year level award in an IADR Juried Show or an artist who teaches doll making and/or sells more than 6 dolls per year. Masters are for the level where their skill isn't judged as much as do they meet the theme. As such, MASTERS can enter again even if they have won a previous MASTER award. They will also still be considered for the MASTER Of YEAR Year-end Award as long as they participate in one other show during the year. The MASTERS category is created to honor their work and inspire us while still allowing other artists a level of competition in the Best of Artist category. The category of Doll of the Year is still available for a Master to compete.
Competition dolls are judged based on three areas (when meeting the competition requirement of having more than one participant for the category and skill level):
Technical acuity - evaluating proportions and details.
Interpretation of the juried show theme. The 2025 IADR Convention theme is "Shine the Light".
Overall appearance.
Registration for the competition can be completed with the below electronic form or upon checking into the convention on May 15, 2025, during the hours of 7:00 AM to 1:00 PM at the convention registration desk.
The requirements are:
Each artist is allowed one entry per show.
The doll has to have been created after January 1, 2024. If submitting your application prior to the convention, one photo of the doll is requested (best view) but not required as a photo will be taken of the doll when it is physically submitted for the competition at the convention. The photo doesn't have to be resized and can be entered in any size, as a jpg, jpeg, or png but the it must be 20 MB or smaller.
Entry fee is included to 2025 Convention registered guests - if not a registered guest the fee is 30 Euro. This fee can be paid by clicking the button below:
When entering the competition - either use the form below or the doll entry form can be completed when presenting the doll for judging at the convention. The information required is the artist's full name, artist's studio (if applicable), and a space for your interpretation of the entered art doll (interpretation of the juried theme and a few words of storytelling about your creation).
Once your application has been submitted, please send an email to [email protected] to confirm receipt. Your submission is not confirmed until you receive an email receipt back. Thanks!