South Arts Presents Southern Prize and State Fellowships for Visual Arts
From SouthArts –
Application Deadline: February 27, 2026
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. The cohort of nine-state fellows will be selected through a two-tiered selection process by a national jury. A second national jury will select the Southern Prize Winner and Finalist. Jurors will make their selections based on artistic excellence that reflects and represents the array of artistic expression of the region. This program is open to visual artists in several categories.
South Arts State Fellowships: $5,000
The South Arts State Fellowship (state fellowship) is a state-specific prize awarded to artists whose work reflects the best of the visual arts in the South. A national jury will select one awardee per eligible state, based on artistic excellence that reflects and represents the region’s array of artistic expression. Each of the nine-state fellowship awardees will receive a $5,000 state fellowship and will compete for one of the two Southern Prizes. State fellowship recipients will be required to attend the awards ceremony in late summer 2026.
South Arts Southern Prize: $25,000 and $10,000
From the pool of state fellows, one artist will be named the Southern Prize winner, receiving an additional $25,000. A finalist will receive $10,000. These unrestricted awards are intended to support the artists’ career development and creative exploration. Both winners also receive a two-week residency at the Hambidge Center for the Creative Arts and Sciences in Rabun Gap, Georgia. By providing both financial support and professional exposure, SouthArts aims to bolster the region’s artistic heritage and its place in the national cultural landscape.
For more information and to apply, visit South Arts Grants and Opportunities webpage.
