CHARLESTON, SC.- Call to Artists: this is the final week to submit for the
1858 Prize for Contemporary Southern Art (the deadline is September 7). Presented by the
Gibbes Museum of Art and
Society 1858, the prize awards $10,000 each year to an artist whose work contributes to a new understanding of art in the South. “Year in and out, the prestigious 1858 Prize for Contemporary Southern Art stands as a testament to, and celebration of, the amazing talents of artists living and working in the American South,” says Dr. H. Alexander Rich, the President and CEO of the Gibbes. The selection panel this year includes: Destinee Filmore, The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Assistant Curator of Modern & Contemporary Art; Kimberli Gant, the Brooklyn Museum’s Curator of Modern & Contemporary Art; Julie Pierotti, the Martha R. Robinson Curator at Dixon Gallery & Gardens in Memphis; Demond Melancon, artist and last year’s 1858 Prize winner; Shane Hall, Society 1858 Board Member and Director at The Fine Art Group in Charleston; and Matt Mill of Art Mag and Society 1858.
Dr. H. Alexander Rich, President and CEO of the Gibbes Museum of Art
“Since its origins in 1858, the Gibbes Museum has been a champion of groundbreaking art and the emerging and established artists whose diverse voices speak powerfully to the full breadth of the American experience and American creativity. Keeping with this legacy, 2025’s 1858 Prize candidates promise to posit new and eye-opening ways to reflect upon our individual and collective worlds — and we cannot wait to be in awe once again of our region’s incredible artistic talent,” adds Dr. H. Alexander Rich, President and CEO of the Gibbes.
In addition to the $10,000 monetary award, a work by the winning artist will be exhibited in the museum for a full year. The museum will also invite the winner to Charleston for the official unveiling of their artwork, part of a three-day celebration in February honoring the artist that includes the annual Society 1858 Winter Party and the Amy P. Coy Forum, where the artist will be invited to speak about their work.
More details about the submission process at:
gibbesmuseum.org/1858-prize (applications are accepted exclusively through the museum’s website). Rules and eligibility details
at this link (the online application is
here).
Artists must reside, work in, or be from these Southern states: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia (artists can currently live in other states, if they are originally from one of these 12 states).
The winner will be announced in October of 2025. The 1858 Prize for Contemporary Southern Art is recognized as a leading artist competition, and
Society 1858 is the museum’s young professionals auxiliary group. Through the years and in the spirit of supporting living artists, the Gibbes Museum has acquired several works by prize winners and finalists for its permanent collection.
The panelists for this year’s 1858 Prize for Contemporary Southern Art
Past winners of the 1858 Prize include:
Demond Melancon (2024),
Sherrill Roland (2023),
Raheleh Filsoofi (2022),
Stephanie J. Woods (2021),
Stephen L. Hayes (2020),
Donté K. Hayes (2019),
Leo Twiggs (2018),
Bo Bartlett (2017),
Alicia Henry (2016),
Deborah Luster (2015),
Sonya Clark (2014),
John Westmark (2012),
Patrick Dougherty (2011),
Radcliffe Bailey (2010),
Stephen Marc (2009), and
Jeff Whetstone (2008).
Some of the past winners have gone on to receive major national awards and accolades, including: the Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, the Joan Mitchell Fellowship, the United States Artist Fellowship, and the Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant. Some of the winning artists’ works have been acquired in the permanent collections of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The National Gallery of Art, and Art Institute of Chicago, among other institutions.
The Gibbes Museum of Art in Charleston (photo by JB McCabe)
Since the inaugural prize of 2008, the 1858 Prize for Contemporary Southern Art recognizes the highest level of artistic achievement and welcomes applications from artists working across all media. View previous winning artists and their work
here.
Society 1858 supports the museum year-round with social and educational programs tailored for up-and-coming art patrons. Society 1858 takes its name from the year that the Carolina Art Association was established (the Museum's art collection, which began in 1858). The Gibbes Museum of Art opened in 1905 at its current location in the heart of Charleston’s historic district. Members of Society 1858 gather several times a year to explore private art collections, new local exhibitions, and host the annual Winter Party. Funds raised by Society 1858 support the prize competition, as well as exhibition and education initiatives at the Gibbes Museum of Art. Learn more about membership in the group
at this link.
About the Gibbes Museum of Art
The Gibbes Museum of Art, a beacon in the American South for arts and culture since 1858 when the Museum’s art collection was founded as the Carolina Art Association, is heralded as one of the earliest and most longstanding arts institutions in the United States. The Museum’s collection spans 350 years, and features some of the country’s most celebrated artists ‒ including contemporary, modern and historical works. With world-class rotating exhibitions and a dynamic visiting artist residency program, the Gibbes is a southern museum with a global perspective. The Museum’s mission is to enhance lives through art by engaging people of every background and experience with art and artists of enduring quality, providing opportunities to learn and discover, to enjoy and be inspired by the creative process. Visitor info at:
gibbesmuseum.org/visit
