the prize is awarded once every two years to a woman painter whose principal focus is figurative painting done in a realistic style. among the rules are requirements that contestants reside in the united states at least part of the year and that submitted work not have to cross an international border. despite the bennetts’ limitation of their personal collection to paintings of women by women artists, the bennett prize is not similarly restricted. depictions of all genders are permissible, although the artist must be a woman.