Image: Museo de Reproducciones de Bilbao
The Museo de Reproducciones de Bilbao will mark the 17th edition of its outdoor painting contest, the Manuel Balsa ‘El Ruso’ competition, on Saturday, September 12, 2026, with a top prize of €1,000. According to the museum, the event will run from 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m., and the institution is inviting both adults and children to take part.
The contest is built around a specific urban subject: participants are asked to capture a corner of Bilbao’s cityscape in the neighbourhoods of Bilbao La Vieja and San Francisco. The museum says the day-long event has a long history and reputation in the art world, and that it has been bringing artists into those streets for 17 years in search of inspiration.
Registration is free and must be completed at the Museo de Reproducciones de Bilbao on the day of the contest, between 8:30 a.m. and 10 a.m. The museum specifies that the support must be smooth and white, and that the work should be made on a single piece per artist. Participants are also required to bring all the materials needed to work.
The competition is divided into two age categories: Infantil-Juvenil, for participants up to 15 years old, and Adulta, for those aged 16 and above. The museum notes that technique is now free, although the contest was limited to watercolour for some years. A specialist jury will select the winning works.
Alongside the main first prize of €1,000, the museum lists a second prize of €500 and a third prize of €250. There is also a special Manuel Balsa ‘El Ruso’ prize for the best watercolour, worth €500, plus a special children’s prize in drawing materials and a special prize for a student from the museum’s drawing course.
The museum says winning artists could see their works exhibited there, and that some of the submitted pieces may also be shown in one of its rooms. Further information is available in the contest rules published on the museum’s website, alongside the event listing for September 12 at the Museo de Reproducciones de Bilbao.
