Southern artists have additional time to apply for one of the region’s prominent contemporary art competitions. The Gibbes Museum of Art and Society 1858 have extended the submission deadline for the Society 1858 Prize for Contemporary Southern Art to Sept. 14, 2026.
Now in its 18th year, the annual competition awards a $10,000 unrestricted prize to a Southern artist. In addition to the monetary award, the winning artist will have one artwork exhibited at the Gibbes Museum for an entire year.
The winner will also be invited to Charleston in February 2027 for a three-day series of events celebrating their work. The visit will include the official unveiling of the winning artwork, the annual Society 1858 Winter Party and the Amy P. Coy Forum, where the artist will be invited to discuss their practice with the public.
Artists are eligible to apply if they are originally from one of 14 Southern states or currently live or work in one of those states. The eligible states are Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and West Virginia.
The Gibbes recently expanded the competition’s eligibility to include Texas and Maryland, adding them to the 12 states previously represented.
Applications are being accepted across all artistic media, giving artists working in a variety of disciplines an opportunity to compete for the award. Entries must be submitted through the competition’s official online application portal.
The prize is presented by Society 1858, the Gibbes Museum’s young professionals auxiliary group. A jury consisting of arts professionals, Society 1858 representatives and the previous prize recipient will select the winner.
The 2025 prize went to Kandy G. Lopez, an Afro-Caribbean American multidisciplinary artist from Florida whose work explores cultural identity, representation and power through fiber, painting, glass and mixed media.
Following her prize win, Lopez debuted her first international solo exhibition at the Florence Foundation in Paris and held a second New York gallery solo exhibition at ACA Galleries. She has also exhibited at institutions including the Armory Art Center, Ringling College of Art and Design and the North Dakota Museum of Art.
The Gibbes recently acquired one of Lopez’s works, Hispaniola III – Mia and Kenya, for its permanent collection.
Since the prize was established in 2008, several winners have gone on to receive major fellowships, grants and other national recognition. Works by some past recipients have also entered the permanent collections of institutions including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the National Gallery of Art and the Art Institute of Chicago.
The Gibbes Museum of Art, founded through the Carolina Art Association in 1858, maintains a collection spanning approximately 350 years of American art.
Artists interested in applying can find additional information and previous winners at Gibbes Museum of Art – Society 1858 Prize. The submission deadline is Sept. 14, 2026.