Bo Bartlett | South Arts State Fellowships for Visual Arts Awarded

2019 South Arts State Fellowships for Visual Arts Awarded, Competing for Southern Prize

Atlanta – South Arts, the nonprofit arts service organization advancing Southern vitality through the arts, has named nine visual artists to receive State Fellowship awards of $5,000 each. These nine artists are now in consideration for the Southern Prize, which includes an additional $25,000 cash award and a two-week residency at the Hambidge Center for the Creative Arts and Sciences. All nine State Fellows will be featured in an exhibit at the 701 Center for Contemporary Art in Columbia, South Carolina, from March 21 – May 5, 2019. The winner of the Southern Prize and a $10,000 Finalist award will be announced at a ceremony celebrating the State Fellows on April 15 at 701 CCA.

The 2019 State Fellowship award recipients are:

Jamey Grimes. Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Sculpture.
Amy Gross. Delray Beach, Florida. Sculpture.
Bo Bartlett. Columbus, Georgia. Painting.
Lori Larusso. Lexington, Kentucky. Painting.
Stephanie Patton. Lafayette, Louisiana. Multidisciplinary.
Rory Doyle. Cleveland, Mississippi. Photography.
Andrew Hayes. Asheville, North Carolina. Sculpture.
Virginia Scotchie. Columbia, South Carolina. Crafts.
Andrew Scott Ross. Johnson City, Tennessee. Multidisciplinary.

Launched in 2017, the South Arts Southern Prize and State Fellowships celebrate and support the highest quality artistic work being created in the American South. Over 800 visual artists submitted work for consideration, and a panel of jurors reviewed each anonymous application using the sole criterion of artistic excellence to recommend the nine State Fellows. A second panel of jurors is currently reviewing the State Fellows to select the Southern Prize awardee and the Finalist.

“Creativity is thriving throughout the South,” said Susie Surkamer, executive director of South Arts. “The 2019 State Fellows’ work has such varied subject matter as the African-American cowboy culture in the Mississippi Delta, the forms and forces of nature, and the impact of ‘perfect’ images of life and home inundating us through digital media. They each come from different backgrounds, viewpoints, and styles, yet each are masterful representations of their respective artform. We are very proud to support them as we work toward our mission of advancing Southern vitality through the arts, and helping working artists more able to survive and succeed while living in the South.”

This is the first year when the Fellows will be featured in a group exhibit. “One of our goals is to celebrate the excellence, innovation, value and power of the arts of the South,” continued Surkamer. “By curating a public exhibit of the State Fellows, we are able to share their dynamic work and highlight the breadth of style cultivated throughout our region.”

The State Fellowship juror panel included Mora J. Beauchamp-Byrd, visiting assistant professor with Oklahoma State University; Katherine Jentleson, the Merrie and Dan Boone Curator of Folk and Self-Taught Art with the High Museum of Art; Radhika Subramaniam, associate professor with the Parsons School of Design; Ben Thompson, deputy director with the Museum of Contemporary Art Jacksonville; and Joey Yates, curator with the Kentucky Museum of Art and Craft.

Visual artists living in South Arts’ nine-state region and producing crafts, drawing, experimental, painting, photography, sculpture, mixed media, and multidisciplinary work were eligible to apply. The awards will be presented to the artists as unrestricted funds.

To view the 2019 State Fellows’ submissions and learn more about the competition, visit www.southarts.org.

Click here to read ArtsATL article