'Rice, Noodles and Glue' Wins National Portrait Gallery's 'Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition 2013 People's Choice'

The votes are in, the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery's "Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition 2013 People's Choice" award goes to Saeri Kiritani of Forest Hills, N.Y., who created "100 Pounds of Rice" a sculpture made from rice, rice noodles, Elmers Glue, epoxy glue, wood and metal sticks. The museum's blog is featuring each artist in the show, Kiritani was interviewed earlier this year and talks about her work in a post on the museum's blog face2face.si.edu.

In March, the museum announced that Bo Gehring of Beacon, N.Y., received first prize from the jury. Gehring's prize was awarded for a video titled "Jessica Wickham."

Voters registered their choice through a free mobile app (iOS and Android). Voting closed Saturday, Sept. 21 at 5 p.m. EST. The app also offers tours of the exhibition, interviews with artists and jurors and inside information about the finalists.

The 48 works included in the exhibition are finalists in the nation's most prestigious portrait competition. Of more than 3,000 entries submitted from across the country, just 48 were chosen for the show; seven of these were selected by a jury for the short list. Submissions included digital animation and video, large-scale drawings, prints, photographs and textiles, as well as painted and sculpted portraits. More information about the artists including interviews and more about their creative process is available on the museum's app and dedicated webpage: portraitcompetition.si.edu.

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 enables the museum to conduct a national portrait competition and exhibition that encourages artists to explore the art of portraiture.

The jurors for the competition were: critic Peter Frank, artist Hung Liu, art historian Richard Powell, photographer Alec Soth and, from the National Portrait Gallery, chief curator Brandon Brame Fortune, assistant curator of painting and sculpture Dorothy Moss, and senior curator of prints and drawings Wendy Wick Reaves.

The Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery tells the history of America through the individuals who have shaped its culture. Through the visual arts, performing arts and new media, the Portrait Gallery portrays poets and presidents, visionaries and villains, actors and activists whose lives tell the American story.

The National Portrait Gallery is part of the Donald W. Reynolds Center for American Art and Portraiture at Eighth and F streets N.W., Washington, D.C. Smithsonian Information: (202) 633-1000. Websites: npg.si.edu andportraitcompetition.si.edu

Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition Finalists and Shortlisted Artists 2013