ABOVE: details from portraits of America’s presidents. From left to right: Richard Nixon, Calvin Coolidge, Rutherford Hayes, and Andrew Johnson. The Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery is sponsoring a contest to try to reinvigorate portraiture in the U.S.

“FACE IT,” the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery shrieks in the introduction to its 2006 Portrait Competition. “PORTRAITURE IS BACK.” That all-caps headline is the first salvo in the NPG’s explanation for its Outwin Boochever 2006 Portrait Competition, a high-profile attempt by the Smithsonian to breathe some life back into the depiction of dudes and chicks in paint and sculpture—it’s, like, totally retro. The whole deal is a ripoff of—sorry, inspired by—similar contests in England and Australia, and a bold new step for the gallery, which isn’t in the habit of collecting portraits of living people.

Speaking of living people, the contest was made possible by a donation by the presumably DAR-eligible Virginia Outwin Boochever, who volunteered for twenty years at the NPG and is possibly no longer alive. It’s difficult to tell from the website, which talks about her in both the past tense (”she was”) and the present perfect tense (”she has”). Wherther Mrs. Outwin Roochever has shuffled off this mortal coil or not, her cheque still cleared, obviously, so the gallery is going to give $25,000 to the best portrait they receive, and the contest is open to “all artists age 18 and older who are living and working in the United States,” which seems to include illegal immigrants. That’d make for one awesome acceptance speech. The contest closes Sept. 6, so start tomorrow.

LINK: National Portrait Gallery Competition