With droves of people having come through the Griffith Regional Art Gallery to check out the 2014 Archibald Prize, gallery coordinator Ray Wholohan thought it a good idea to start up the ‘Young Archie’ competition.

He said it was a good way to bring out their inner artist.

“It's a nice chance to give kids a good visual art activity outside of school times, because a lot of kids only engage in art during that school period,” he said.

“They might like drawing at home just for fun, but this is a good project that has some nice outcomes to go along with it.

“It's a good structured project and also it has an end and a purpose.”

There are several prizes to go along with the competition, with the winner to be awarded an ANZ account and $200 deposit from ANZ bank.

Mr Wholohan said entries will go on display at the regional theatre and he hoped the competition would shine a light on a fading art form.

“I'm hoping that when these portraits do get put up at the art space that it will be like a roaming exhibition as people will come down here to see the Archibald Prize and then go up to the theatre to see the Young Archie awards,” he said.

“I think that portraiture is considered by many people as an old hat kind of form of visual arts.

“It's almost an anything goes type of format and there are a lot of artists that do a lot of amazing stuff, but I think that portraiture has suffered over the past 25 years as being a fashionable form of art because it's seen as an old fashioned form of art.”

Entrants to the competition must be under the age of 18 with their artwork not to exceed an A3 size and be drawn vertical, not horizontal

The theme should be based on someone who inspires you, this can range from a teacher to a parent to a superhero.

Mr Wholoan believed that the interest shown in the Archibald Prize meant that people’s interest in portraiture was still very much alive. He hoped that same interest would spill over into the Young Archie competition.

“It's (portraiture) one of the staples of western art since the advent of all painting,” he said.

“Contemporary artists might think it's a little bit old hat doing portraits, but it's evident by the attendance that's come through to see the Archibald Prize there's a large portion of the art loving community, not just in Griffith but in Australia, that love and see an image that they recognise.

“So instead of asking kids to do an installation art piece or some kind of funky way to represent an idea or concept, we thought why don't we show the young people in this area that portraiture is still a valuable part of the visual arts landscape.”

Entries close Friday, August 14 and entry forms can be picked up from the regional art gallery. Entry to the contest is free.