NEW YORK, NY (AP).- A new prize recognizing artists age 35 and under would provide the winner with $100,000 and help from mentors like Jeff Koons and Damien Hirst, the prize's creator announced Tuesday.

The Future Generation Art Prize is the creation of the Victor Pinchuk Foundation, whose namesake is a Ukrainian billionaire and art collector.

Artists in the age group will apply online for the prize, which will be awarded every two years. A group of 100 art professionals from around the globe also will nominate candidates for consideration.

One of the goals of the prize is to make a major contribution toward the production of new work by young artists. The winner will be required to use $40,000 of the prize money to create new art.

To encourage the support of one generation of artists for another, four renowned artists have been enlisted to provide advice to the winner and finalists. In addition to Koons and Hirst, Andreas Gursky and Takashi Murakami have also signed on. Pinchuk collects their works.

The prize will be overseen by a distinguished board that includes Elton John and museum directors Richard Armstrong of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, Glenn D. Lowry of the Museum of Modern Art, Alfred Pacquement of the Pompidou Center in Paris and Nicholas Serota of the Tate in London. The Los Angeles financier Eli Broad and Miuccia Prada are also on the board.

"This worldwide contemporary art prize will be an important contribution to the open participation of younger artists in the dynamic cultural development of societies in global transition," Pinchuk said.

Eckhard Schneider, the general director of the Pinchuk Art Center in Kiev, Ukraine, said that with the establishment of the prize, the foundation hoped to "reach out to the world's younger artists on a truly democratic basis, so that virtually everyone has the opportunity to participate."

Its other goal is to "provide sustainable support for the future generation, by bringing the most promising of these young artists into a network that includes curators, critics, educators, scholars and some of the world's most celebrated artists."

Online entries will be accepted from Jan. 18 through April 18. The names of an international jury of arts professional will be announced at that time.

On June 20, 2010, a short list of 20 artists will be announced; their works will be posted online and shown at the Pinchuk Art Center in Ukraine's capital in October 2010.

The winner and up to five finalists will be announced in December 2010. An additional $20,000 will fund artist-in-residency programs for up to five other special prize winners.

The prize is higher than the prestigious $36,400 Turner Prize given by the Tate or the $50,000 Hugo Boss Prize sponsored by the clothing company and given by the Guggenheim.



Copyright 2009 The Associated Press.