About the Southern Prize and State Fellowships for Visual Arts

The South Arts Southern Prize and State Fellowships for Visual Arts acknowledge, support, and celebrate the highest quality artistic work being created in the American South. Individual artists living in the South Arts region—Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee—share their work for consideration during an annual open application process. The cohort of nine State Fellows are selected from the pool of applicants through a national jury. A second national jury then selects the Southern Prize for Visual Arts Winner and Finalist from within the pool of State Fellows. Jurors make their selections based on artistic excellence that reflects and represents the diversity of the region. Each State Fellow receives a $5,000 cash award and inclusion in a touring exhibition. The Southern Prize Winner and Finalist receive an additional $25,000 and $10,000 respectively, along with a two-week residency at the Hambidge Center for Creative Arts and Sciences. For more details, visit southarts.org.

About South Arts

South Arts advances Southern vitality through the arts. The nonprofit regional arts organization was founded in 1975 to build on the South’s unique heritage and enhance the public value of the arts. South Arts’ work responds to the arts environment and cultural trends with a regional perspective. South Arts offers an annual portfolio of activities designed to support the success of artists and arts providers in the South, address the needs of Southern communities through impactful arts-based programs, and celebrate the excellence, innovation, value, and power of the arts of the South.

Curatorial Essay by the Executive Director of the Ohr-O’Keefe Museum of Art, David Houston