Meet the 2026 Southern Prize for Visual Arts State Fellows
Upstate ceramicist represents #SCArtists
Every year, artists across the South are honored by South Arts as they remind us that creativity is rooted in place and shaped by memory, community, tradition, experimentation, and the everyday moments that become something lasting through making.
Jay Owens
South Arts recently introduced the 2026 State Fellows for Visual Arts, recognizing nine artists whose work reflects the extraordinary breadth of artistic practice across our region. Among them is Jay Owens of Travelers Rest, a ceramicist.
Owens and his cohort of state fellows each receive an unrestricted $5,000 cash prize and will compete against each other for the larger Southern Prize for Visual Arts.
“Every year, this cohort reminds us how much range exists within our region. These nine artists are working in glass, textile, video, printmaking, and found materials, each showcasing a different way to hold onto memory, place, and history through their practice. The Southern Prize gives their work a wider stage, and we’re honored to help showcase these visionaries,” said South Arts President & CEO Doug Shipman.
Building on South Arts’ commitment to funding practices that create greater cultural equity and support diversity in the Southern region, this program annually awards a total of $80,000 to nine visual artists, one from each state in the South Arts’ region: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee. Meet the nine artists whose work will shape this year’s Southern Prize exhibition.
- Jeff Schmuki of Alabama.
- Kerry Phillips of Florida.
- Sergio Suárez of Georgia.
- Dianna Settles of Kentucky.
- Caitlin Ezell Waugh of Louisiana.
- Brejenn Allen of Mississippi.
- Zaire Linnex Miles-Moultrie of North Carolina.
- Jay Owens of South Carolina.
- Johana Moscoso of Tennessee.
Each artist has been named a 2026 State Fellow for Visual Arts. From this distinguished group, a national jury will select the Southern Prize winner and finalist. The Southern Prize winner will receive an additional $25,000 and a two-week residency at Hambidge Center, while the finalist will receive an additional $10,000.
Alongside their cash prizes, the State Fellows for Visual Arts will be featured in a traveling group exhibition, which will be on display from Aug. 11 to Oct. 23 at Western Carolina University Fine Art Museum at Bardo Arts Center in Cullowhee, North Carolina before touring to additional locations across the region. The South Carolina dates and location, among others, are yet to be determined.
The Southern Prize and State Fellowships for Visual Arts program is supported by the Windgate Foundation, the Maxwell/Hanrahan Foundation, Southern First Bank, and other generous individual donors. For more information about the Southern Prize and State Fellowship programs, application eligibility, and additional opportunities from South Arts, please visit SouthArts.org.
About Jay Owens
Jay Owens (b. 1978) lives and works in Upstate South Carolina. He attended the South Carolina Governor’s School for the Arts, Winthrop University and earned a BFA in Ceramics from Utah State University.
Owens is a past participant in various workshops including at Penland School of Craft, where he served as a teaching assistant. He has presented numerous others and taught through the Metropolitan Arts Council’s SmartARTS arts integration program.
His work and writing have been featured in Studio Potter and Ceramics Monthly. Owens has also been included in numerous publications, including 500 Pitchers, Ceramics for Beginners: Wheel Throwing, and At This Moment: Portraits of South Carolina Artists by Jerry Siegel. In 2007, his work was featured in Studio Visits at the Greenville County Museum of Art, and in 2025 he was included in the South Carolina Biennial at the 701 Center for Contemporary Art.
Owens has presented solo exhibitions at IF ART Gallery and the Metropolitan Arts Council. He has exhibited nationally at venues including Lillstreet Art Center, Ariana Gallery, Baltimore Clayworks, Lux Center for the Arts, Armory Art Center, Nora Eccles Harrison Museum of Art, Furman University, The Bascom: A Center for the Visual Arts, and ArtFields. His work has been exhibited internationally with the U.S. Department of State’s Art in Embassies program in Bern, Switzerland.
His work is included in the permanent collections of the Greenville County Museum of Art and Southern Illinois University, as well as numerous private collections throughout the United States and Europe.
- Instagram @builtbyjay1.
- Website: Built-By-Jay.com.
About South Arts
South Arts advances Southern vitality through the arts. The nonprofit regional arts organization was founded in 1976 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. For more information, visit www.southarts.org.