South Arts has named nine visual artists as 2022 State Fellows, part of the Southern Prize and State Fellowships program. Each fellowship – one per state in the South Arts region of AL, FL, GA, KY, LA, MS, NC, SC, and TN – comes with a cash award of $5,000 and inclusion in an exhibition at the Bo Bartlett Center in Columbus, Georgia, from September 2 – December 10, 2022, before touring to additional locations across the region. The Southern Prize and State Fellowships are adjudicated awards recognizing artistic excellence that reflects and represents the diversity of the region.
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 also receive a two-week residency at the Hambidge Center for the Creative Arts and Sciences. The two winners will be named at the opening reception for the exhibition this fall.
The 2022 State Fellowship recipients are:
Jenny Fine. Multidisciplinary. New Brockton, Alabama.
GeoVanna Gonzalez. Multidisciplinary. Miami, Florida.
Antonio Darden. Sculpture. Atlanta, Georgia.
Crystal Gregory. Sculpture. Lexington, Kentucky.
Hannah Chalew. Mixed Media. New Orleans, Louisiana.
Gloria Gipson Suggs. Painting. Holly Springs, Mississippi.
Marcus Dunn. Painting. Fayetteville, North Carolina.
Brittany M. Watkins. Mixed Media. Columbia, South Carolina.
Sarah Elizabeth Cornejo. Sculpture. Memphis, Tennessee.
“The 2022 State Fellows are a testament to the robust creativity across our region,” said Susie Surkamer, President and CEO of South Arts. “Each State Fellow speaks to what it means to be an artist who lives, works, and creates in the South. Through their work, we are exploring themes vital to our regional understanding, including climate change, cultural assimilation, self-identity, and police violence. South Arts is grateful to celebrate their vision with these awards.”
Launched in 2017, the Southern Prize and State Fellowships acknowledge, support, and celebrate the highest quality art being created in the South. Approximately 600 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 reception this fall.
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 Southern Prize and State Fellowships program is made possible through the generous financial support of many donors.
To view work by the 2022 State Fellowship recipients, please visit southarts.org/southernprize. To learn more about South Arts’ grants, programs, and conferences, visit www.southarts.org.
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.
Brittany M. Watkins lives and works in Columbia, South Carolina as a full-time artist. Her practice examines contemporary society through a lens of psychoanalysis and social critique as she moves between a range of media. Since obtaining her Master’s Degree of Fine Art in 2016 from Florida State University, she has exhibited in international fairs such as UNTITLED Art Fair (Miami) and Art Fair Philippines (2020) along with artist-run spaces and galleries in the U.S. and abroad.