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Upstate sculpture artist recognized with South Arts State Fellowship

Cash prize, shot at Southern Prize among benefits

[caption id="attachment_53344" align="aligncenter" width="951"] Michael Webster | Signal | crystal tableware, utility pole, threaded steel rods, walnut wood | Provided photo; click to enlarge.[/caption]

As part of their Southern Prize and State Fellowships for Visual Arts program, South Arts is pleased to announce the 2023 State Fellows for Visual Arts—a cohort of nine visual artists across various disciplines and career levels, who represent the Southeastern region.

Each of the awardees are provided a $5,000 state fellowship and an opportunity to win the annual Southern Prize for Visual Arts, which will be announced in late summer 2023. Upstate sculpture artist Michael Webster is South Carolina's fellow for the 2023 cycle. As a response to a gap in regional funding opportunities for individual artists in the South, the Southern Prize and State Fellowships for Visual Arts were created in acknowledgment of the important role artists play in the wellbeing of a region’s culture. Now in its 7th year, South Arts’ State Fellowships for Visual Arts are awarded annually to one artist in each of the nine states in South Arts’ region: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee. Launched in 2017, the program aims to empower artists with visual narratives that speak to deeper truths about the perils and hardships as well as the opportunities for optimism and justice in daily life in the south and beyond. Spanning the diverse scope of visual arts, the program supports artists across disciplines and categories, including craft, drawing, experimental, painting, photography, sculpture, mixed media, and multidisciplinary. The 2023 cohort of fellows—selected by a national jury—vary in their individual artistic practices and disciplines. Taken as a whole, though, their work explores thematic narratives of resilience, physical disability, and identity, along with the motif of location expressed through environmental and social challenges. “We are so excited to celebrate the 2023 State Fellows for Visual Arts,” said Susie Surkamer, president and CEO of South Arts. “Their work is a deep reflection of our time, powerfully telling their individual stories of immigration status, disability, race, sense of place and more. Each state fellow has the talent to convey so much through their creativity, and they collectively build toward our better understanding of artists in the South.”
[caption id="attachment_53345" align="alignright" width="225"] Michael Webster | Set it down right there | 3D modeled and printed PLA plastic, Thonet #18 chair | Provided image; click to enlarge.[/caption] The 2023 State Fellows for Visual Arts are: This flagship program involves a state-specific prize awarded to artists whose work reflects the highest quality visual arts being created in the South. A national jury selected one winner per eligible state, for a group of nine state fellows, based on artistic excellence that reflects and represents the diversity of the region. The 2023 Southern Prize for Visual Arts winner and finalist, both of whom will be decided by a second jury and receive an additional $25,000 and $10,000 respectively, will be announced and awarded on August 17, 2023 during the opening exhibition and awards ceremony at the Ohr-O'Keefe Museum of Art in Biloxi, Mississippi. This touring exhibit will feature the works of all nine state fellows and will be on display at the Ohr-O'Keefe through December 13, 2023. In addition to the larger cash prizes, both Southern Prize recipients will receive a two-week residency at The Hambidge Center for the Creative Arts and Sciences in Rabun Gap, Georgia. The Southern Prize and State Fellowship program is supported by Southern First Bank and the Warner Fund, as well as many individual donors. For more information about South Arts and its programming, 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. For more information, visit www.southarts.org.

Jason Rapp

South Arts names 2021 State Fellows

[caption id="attachment_46889" align="aligncenter" width="600"]Fletcher Williams III stands in his art studio among works in progress. Fletcher Williams III (Photo by Andrew Cebulka)[/caption]

South Arts has named the ten visual artists (eight individual artists and one team) receiving the 2021 State Fellowship awards.

Each fellowship—one per state in the South Arts region—comes with a cash award of $5,000 and inclusion in an exhibition opening this fall at the Bo Bartlett Center in Columbus, Georgia. The State Fellows are also now in consideration for the two larger Southern Prize awards. One fellowship recipient will be named the Southern Prize winner receiving an additional $25,000 cash award, and another fellow will be named the Southern Prize Finalist receiving an additional $10,000; both Southern Prize recipients will also receive a two-week residency at the Hambidge Center for the Creative Arts and Sciences. The two winners will be named at a virtual ceremony on June 17 celebrating the work of all ten State Fellows. The 2021 State Fellowship recipients are:
  • Tameca Cole. Mixed Media. Birmingham, Alabama.
  • Marielle Plaisir. Mixed Media. Hollywood, Florida.
  • Myra Greene. Craft. Atlanta, Georgia.
  • Joyce Garner. Painting. Prospect, Kentucky.
  • Chandra McCormick and Keith Calhoun. Photography. New Orleans, Louisiana.
  • Ming Ying Hong. Drawing. Starkville, Mississippi.
  • Jewel Ham. Painting. Huntersville, North Carolina.
  • Fletcher Williams III. Mixed Media. North Charleston, South Carolina.
  • Raheleh Filsoofi. Multidisciplinary. Nashville, Tennessee.
“The 2021 Southern Prize and State Fellowship recipients represent the amazing creativity of our region,” explained Susie Surkamer, President and CEO of South Arts. “Although they each speak with a unique voice through their work, their combined diversity is a great showcase of what it means to be an artist living, working, creating, and thriving in the South.” Launched in 2017, the Southern Prize and State Fellowships acknowledge, support, and celebrate the highest quality art being created in the South. More than 850 artists applied for consideration this past fall and winter, and jurors reviewed each application to recommend the State Fellowship recipients. Another national panel of jurors will review the State Fellows to determine the Southern Prize winner and finalist, both of whom will be named at a virtual ceremony in June 2021. 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. To view work by the 2021 State Fellowship recipients and register to attend the June 17, 2021 Southern Prize ceremony, visit www.southarts.org. An exhibition featuring the 2021 Southern Prize and State Fellowship recipients will be open at the Bo Bartlett Center in Columbus, Georgia, from Aug. 20-Dec. 20, 2021.

More about Fletcher Williams III

Bio

Fletcher Williams III (b. 1987) is a multidisciplinary artist working primarily in sculpture and painting. Williams received his BFA from The Cooper Union for the Advancement in Science and Art (2010). He maintained a studio practice in Long Island City, Queens, and later Crowns Heights, Brooklyn before returning to his hometown of Charleston, South Carolina, in 2013. Upon his return to Charleston, Williams remained an independent artist and began producing solo exhibitions throughout the City of Charleston and North Charleston, the latest being a site-wide solo exhibition, Promiseland (2020), at the Historic Aiken-Rhett House Museum.

Artist statement

My work engages the rituals and traditions of the American South. My interest in the way we seek to establish place and identity has prompted a working methodology that utilizes found and natural materials and an exhibition practice that incorporates public and historic sites. I often paint with Spanish moss, builds house-like structures with salvaged wood and tin roof, and fashion delicate sculptures out of handwoven palmetto roses. My approach is architectural and figural, tactile, and multi-sensory and unveils my curiosity for both people and place, material, and process. To view selected artworks, visit his page on 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. For more information, visit www.southarts.org.

Jason Rapp

Kristi Ryba named S.C.’s South Arts State Fellow

South Arts awarding more than $160,000 to 18 artists

South Arts, the nonprofit regional arts service organization advancing Southern vitality through the arts, announces the recipients of two fellowship programs.

Southern PrizeNine visual artists (one per state from its nine-state service area) will each receive a $5,000 State Fellowship; additionally, they are now in competition for the $25,000 Southern Prize with a residency at The Hambidge Center for Creative Arts and Sciences as well as the $10,000 Southern Prize Finalist awards.

The other 2020 State Fellowship recipients are:

  • Carlton Nell. Drawing. Opelika, Alabama.
  • Alba Triana. Experimental. Miami, Florida.
  • Fahamu Pecou. Painting. Decatur, Georgia.
  • Letitia Quesenberry. Multidisciplinary. Louisville, Kentucky.
  • Karen Ocker. Painting. New Orleans, Louisiana.
  • Ashleigh Coleman. Photography. Jackson, Mississippi.
  • Sherrill Roland. Multidisciplinary. Morrisville, North Carolina.
  • Bill Steber. Photography. Murfreesboro, Tennessee.

Additionally, another nine traditional artists and culture-bearers from Central Appalachian counties in KY, NC, and TN will each receive $9,000 Folk & Traditional Arts Master Artist Fellowships to continue their lifelong learning and practice. The 2020 Folk & Traditional Arts Master Artist Fellowship recipients are:

  • Roger Cooper. Old-time music. Garrison, Kentucky.
  • Charlene Long. Willow & honeysuckle basket making. Upton, Kentucky.
  • Octavia Sexton. Storytelling. Orlando, Kentucky.
  • Janet Calhoun. Pottery. Lenoir, North Carolina.
  • Susan Leveille. Handweaving. Webster, North Carolina.
  • Bobby McMillon. Ballad singing. Burnsville, North Carolina.
  • Meredith Goins. Violin luthiery. Dunlap, Tennessee.
  • Jordan Hughett. Ballad singing. Winfield, Tennessee.
  • Mark Newberry. Chair-making. Red Boiling Springs, Tennessee.

“South Arts is immensely proud to support every one of these artists, craftspeople, and tradition-bearers,” says Susie Surkamer, executive director of South Arts and a former executive director of the South Carolina Arts Commission. “Especially as our country enters the economic disruption caused by COVID-19, artists are among those most vulnerable to losing income. Yet their creativity, work, and stories are what carry us forward and will be integral to rebuilding our communities.”

Applications were open for both fellowship programs in the fall of 2019. The State Fellowships application pool was reviewed by a panel of experts including Ndubuisi C. Ezeluomba of the New Orleans Museum of Art, Edward Hayes, Jr. of The McNay Art Museum, independent art historian and consultant David Houston, and Marilyn Zapf of the Center for Craft. The panel made their recommendations based on the artistic excellence of their work and inclusiveness of the diversity of the Southern region. The Folk & Traditional Art Master Artist Fellowship applications were reviewed by a panel including Native American potter and storyteller Beckee Garris, Zoe van Buren of the North Carolina Arts Council, Mark Brown of the Kentucky Arts Council, and Evangeline Mee of the Tennessee Arts Commission. The panel made their recommendations based on the artists’ history and mastery of their respective tradition as well as the proposed lifelong learning opportunity.

The nine State Fellowship recipients will be featured in an exhibition that is scheduled to open at the Bo Bartlett Center at Columbus State University in Columbus, Georgia in May 2020; due to the current closures of facilities, this date may be postponed. The announcement of which State Fellowship recipients will also be named as the Southern Prize winner and finalist will be announced at a ceremony surrounding the opening of this exhibition.

“I would like to thank each and every one of our donors and sponsors,” continues Surkamer. “Their support and investment in the arts, culture, and tradition of our region is vital even in the best of times, and their ongoing generosity is more important than ever before.”

To view the work by each of these fellowship recipients and read more about the artists and tradition-bearers, visit www.southarts.org.

About Kristi Ryba

[caption id="attachment_44630" align="aligncenter" width="600"]Kristi Ryba's Chapel Of Perpetual Adoration II Chapel Of Perpetual Adoration II ; 2018 ; Egg Tempera & 22k Gold leaf on panel ; 3 panels each 18.75 x 15.25[/caption]

Kristi Ryba enchants viewers with her narrative works as she combines the elaborate skill of handmade egg tempera painting with subjects that explore contemporary events and messages of morality. Museum visitors will experience the different stages of a painting; how the artist lays out the composition, prepares the painting supports, grinds the pigment, and applies gold leaf to envelop the final piece in regalia.

Kristi Ryba holds an MFA from Vermont College, Montpelier, Vermont and most recently won 2nd place in the esteemed annual visual art competition ArtFields (2018). The artist is represented by Corrigan Gallery in Charleston and is in numerous private collections including the Medical University of South Carolina.

Artist Statement

Over the last several years, my interest in the study of Medieval and Renaissance art has informed my work. This series of paintings is taken from images from centuries ago and serve as a vehicle to simplify an urgent message by providing the symbolic and instructional imagery to illustrate and illuminate the leadership crisis we are in. All the gold, elaborate surroundings and messages of morality and ethics corresponded with what is happening in our government; the gutting of our social safety net and health care, eliminating environmental protections, the lack of restraint in spending money on personal enrichment and pleasure and the build-up of military spending and deficit in international diplomacy to name a few.

For more on the other 2020 State Fellows and the 2020 Folk & Traditional Arts Master Artist Fellowship recipients, please visit those links to content on SouthArts.org.

About South Arts

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. For more information, visit www.southarts.org.

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South Arts opens 2020 Southern Prize applications

$80,000 in cash prizes on the line

Application deadline: Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2019 2019 Southern Prize banner
South Arts has opened applications for this year’s Southern Prize and State Fellowships. They are offering up to $30,000 in cash awards to visual artists in the nine-state South Arts region (AL, FL, GA, KY, LA, MS, NC, SC, and TN); this includes nine State Fellowships worth $5,000 each as well as one Southern Prize winner receiving an additional $25,000 and one finalist receiving an additional $10,000. In addition, the Southern Prize winner receives a two-week residency at The Hambidge Center for the Creative Arts and Sciences. The deadline to apply is December 3, 2019. Click here to learn more.
[caption id="attachment_34666" align="aligncenter" width="563"] The world-famous Hub Calls for Art Megaphone.[/caption]

2019 South Arts state fellowships for visual arts awarded

Nine recipients vie for Southern Prize

[caption id="attachment_38996" align="alignright" width="250"] Virginia Scotchie - Photo by Chris Horn[/caption] 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 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.

About Virginia Scotchie

“I am a ceramic artist and Area Head of Ceramics at the School of Visual Art and Design at the University of South Carolina in Columbia, South Carolina, USA. I received my Bachelor of Art in Sociology and Religion from UNC-Chapel Hill in North Carolina and in 1985 completed my Master of Fine Arts at Alfred University in New York. “My ceramic sculpture has been extensively exhibited throughout the United States and abroad, and has received numerous awards including the Sydney Meyer Fund International Ceramics Premiere Award from the Shepparton Museum in Victoria, Australia. I have lectured internationally on my creative research and have worked as an Artist in Residence in Tainan, Taiwan, Rome and Florence Italy, Sydney and Canberra Australia, Kecskemet Hungary, Fuping China, Vallauris France and Hertogenbosch Netherlands.  My ceramic work resides in numerous public and private collections and reviews about my work appear in many prestigious ceramic publications.”

About South Arts

South Arts South Arts advance 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. For more information, visit www.southarts.org.

South Arts Southern Prize, State Fellowships deadline near

One of nine state winners will take home the $25,000 Southern Prize

Application deadline: Monday, Dec. 3, 2018
Applications are now open for the South Arts 2019 State Fellowships! Apply through December 3, 2018. South ArtsThe South Arts State Fellowships is a state-specific prize awarded to the artists whose work reflects the best of the visual arts in the South. A national jury will select one winner per eligible state, with artistic excellence being the sole criterion. A total of nine $5,000 South Arts State Fellowships will be awarded. Each state fellow will compete for one of the two South Arts Prizes: the $25,000 Southern Prize and the $10,000 Finalist. The Southern Prize winner will also receive a two-week residency at The Hambidge Center for the Creative Arts and Sciences. State fellowship recipients will be required to attend the awards ceremony, which happens to be in Columbia on April 15, 2019. Jurors for the State Fellowships include Katherine Jentleson (Atlanta) and Radhika Subramaniam (New York City). Jurors for the Southern Prize include David Houston (Columbus, Ga.). An exhibition of works by the State Fellowship winners will be open between April 15 and May 5, 2019 at 701 Whaley in Columbia, South Carolina. The South Arts Southern Prize and State Fellowships acknowledge, support, and celebrate the highest quality artistic work being created in the American South. The program is open to individual artists living in the South Arts region: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee. This program is open only to visual artists and will expand to other disciplines in the future. Eligible disciplines include crafts, drawing, experimental, painting, photography, sculpture, mixed media, and multidisciplinary. The application deadline is Monday, December 3, 2018. Applications are powered by The Hambidge Center. Questions or comments about this program? First consult the FAQs. If your answer isn’t there, please contact southernprize@southarts.org or call 404.874.7244 x10.

Apply now for South Arts State Fellowships, Southern Prize

One of nine state winners will take home the $25,000 Southern Prize

Application deadline: Monday, Dec. 3, 2018
Applications are now open for the South Arts 2019 State Fellowships! Apply through December 3, 2018. South ArtsThe South Arts State Fellowships is a state-specific prize awarded to the artists whose work reflects the best of the visual arts in the South. A national jury will select one winner per eligible state, with artistic excellence being the sole criterion. A total of nine $5,000 South Arts State Fellowships will be awarded. Each state fellow will compete for one of the two South Arts Prizes: the $25,000 Southern Prize and the $10,000 Finalist. The Southern Prize winner will also receive a two-week residency at The Hambidge Center for the Creative Arts and Sciences. State fellowship recipients will be required to attend the awards ceremony, which happens to be in Columbia on April 15, 2019. [caption id="attachment_37695" align="alignright" width="220"] Kate Hooray Osmond[/caption] South Carolina's 2018 state fellow is painter and installation artist Kate Hooray Osmond of Charleston. Visit her website here. Jurors for the State Fellowships include Katherine Jentleson (Atlanta) and Radhika Subramaniam (New York City). Jurors for the Southern Prize include David Houston (Columbus, Ga.). An exhibition of works by the State Fellowship winners will be open between April 15 and May 5, 2019 at 701 Whaley in Columbia, South Carolina. The South Arts Southern Prize and State Fellowships acknowledge, support, and celebrate the highest quality artistic work being created in the American South. The program is open to individual artists living in the South Arts region: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee. This program is open only to visual artists and will expand to other disciplines in the future. Eligible disciplines include crafts, drawing, experimental, painting, photography, sculpture, mixed media, and multidisciplinary. The application deadline is December 3, 2018. Applications are powered by The Hambidge Center. Questions or comments about this program? First consult the FAQs. If your answer isn’t there, please contact southernprize@southarts.org or call 404.874.7244 x10.
Ed. note: South Arts State Fellowships are not to be confused with the S.C. Arts Commission's $5,000 Individual Artist Fellowships, which are open this cycle to visual and craft artists, music composers, and performing musicians, and have received significant attention here since August. The application deadline is tomorrow.

South Arts issues RFP for exhibition in Columbia

Application deadline: Nov. 9, 2018

South ArtsOur partner South Arts is seeking proposals from qualified contractors to work as the South Arts State Fellowship and Southern Prize Program Exhibition Coordinator. The coordinator is a six-month contract position which manages the Fellowship and Prize exhibition. It may be renewed for future cycles based on the satisfaction of both South Arts and the coordinator. This exhibit is a new element of the South Arts State Fellowships and Southern Prize: each of the nine selected artists will be included in an exhibit in Columbia, the site of the 2019 awards ceremony. The Hub will have more information about the South Arts Southern Prize and its State Fellowships next week.
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