The Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery has selected the artists whose work will be included in the “Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition 2009.” Of 3,300 entrants, College of Charleston Studio Art Professor Cliffton Peacock has been named a finalist.

The Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition is a triennial event that invites figurative artists to submit entries in all media to be considered for prizes and display at the National Portrait Gallery. The endowment from the late Virginia Outwin Boochever has enabled the museum to conduct a national portrait competition and exhibition that encourages artists to explore the art of portraiture.

The competition received 3,300 entries in a variety of visual arts media, from digital animation and video to large-scale drawings, prints and photographs and a plethora of painted and sculpted portraits. It was open to artists working in the United States who had created portraits after Jan. 1, 2007, in any visual art form.

The juried exhibition includes 49 finalists’ works (paintings, sculpture, drawings, photographs, and video) that will be on view from Oct. 23, 2009 through Aug. 22, 2010.