Every so often, I’ll pass on a press release I think might be of interest to my readers. I get press releases nearly every day, but most are just advertising crap from publicity agents; only once in a while is one of them something I think worth promoting. I got this one a week ago today; it’s for a competition for Southern artists. If you know an eligible artist, please pass this on.
The Gibbes Museum of Art has announced an extension of the deadline for the 1858 Prize for Contemporary Southern Art.
- $10,000 prize for the winning artist.
- An artwork by the winning artist will be exhibited in the museum for one full year.
- The new deadline for submissions is Sept. 7, 2025.
The 1858 Prize is recognized as one of the leading artist competitions in the Southeastern United States, and awards $10,000 each year to an artist whose work contributes to a new understanding of art in the South. Artists must reside or work in one of these states. Or – they can live elsewhere but be originally from one of these Southern states: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia.
The Prize is presented by Society 1858, the museum’s young professionals auxiliary group. In addition to the monetary award, a work by the winning artist will be exhibited in the museum for a full year. A jury comprised of arts professionals, representatives of Society 1858, and the previous year’s recipient will select the winner, who will be announced in October of 2025.The museum will also invite the winner to Charleston for the official unveiling of their artwork, part of a three-day celebration in February honoring the artist ‒ including the annual Society 1858 Winter Party, and the Amy P. Coy Forum, where the artist will be invited to speak about their work.
Some of the past winners have gone on to receive major national awards and accolades, including: the Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, the Joan Mitchell Fellowship, the United States Artist Fellowship, and the Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant. Some of the winning artists’ works have been acquired in the permanent collections of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The National Gallery of Art, and Art Institute of Chicago, among other institutions.
More details about the submission process at: gibbesmuseum.org/1858-prize (applications are accepted exclusively through the museum’s website).
Rules and eligibility details at this link (the online application is here).
Past winners of the 1858 Prize include: Demond Melancon (2024), Sherrill Roland (2023), Raheleh Filsoofi (2022), Stephanie J. Woods (2021), Stephen L. Hayes (2020), Donté K. Hayes (2019), Leo Twiggs (2018), Bo Bartlett (2017), Alicia Henry (2016), Deborah Luster (2015), Sonya Clark (2014), John Westmark (2012), Patrick Dougherty (2011), Radcliffe Bailey (2010), Stephen Marc (2009), and Jeff Whetstone (2008).
View previous winning artists and their work here.
