The Gibbes Museum of Art is celebrating the 15th anniversary of its 1858 Prize for Contemporary Southern Art with a major new exhibition on display through Jan. 12, 2025. The retrospective highlights artwork and success stories from the diverse group of American artists who have been recognized by the annual prize.
“Recognizing and supporting artists from our region is at the heart of the Gibbes’ mission,” said Angela Mack, president and CEO of the Gibbes. “The prize has evolved dramatically over the last 15 years, and we are proud to see many of its past recipients recognized by national and international art entities.”
Originally established as the Factor Prize for Southern Art in 2008, the 1858 Prize for Contemporary Southern Art recognizes artists working across all media whose work fosters a new understanding of art in the region. Artists from the following states are eligible to apply: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia. Finalists and winners are determined by a panel of established arts professionals, curators, artists and previous prize winners.
The retrospective exhibition, Celebrating the 1858 Prize for Contemporary Southern Art, offers not only a look back at 15 years’ worth of creativity and expression, but also serves as a collective example of the way institutions and places of learning provide platforms for public awareness and professional success when it comes to art and artists. Over the past decade-and-a-half, the 1858 award has become one of the South’s most prestigious art prizes. It’s a point of connection for creators and potential patrons. Additionally, each of the artists recognized by the prize has continued to garner accolades regionally, nationally and internationally.
Previous winners have subsequently received awards from the Joan Mitchell Fellowship, the Guggenheim Memorial Foundation and the Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant. Winning artists’ work has been introduced into the permanent collections of The National Gallery of Art, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Art Institute of Chicago and the Gibbes Museum of Art.
In addition to the monetary award of $10,000 given to each year’s winner, artwork is chosen by the Gibbes curatorial team, in collaboration with the artist, for display in the Mary Jackson Modern and Contemporary Galleries for the duration of the year following the winner’s announcement. For example, a collection of pieces from Sherrill Roland, the multi-disciplinary artist who took home the 2023 prize, is now on exhibit at the Gibbes until 2025.
Since 2013, the 1858 Prize has been underwritten by the Gibbes’s young patrons auxiliary group, Society 1858, which supports the museum through social and educational programs tailored for up-and-coming art patrons.
“The fact that this initiative, this award, rests so largely on the dedication, efforts and energy of our younger members and patrons is just extraordinary and so meaningful,” Mack told the Charleston City Paper. “This exhibition recognizes their work, too, and should give us all a lot of hope for the future of Southern art.”
Below, a sampling of past prize winners.
2009 Stephen Marc
Stephen Marc is a documentary/street photographer and digital montage artist. His latest photography book, American/True Colors, documents 12 years of America and Americans. Marc set out to pay homage to photographers such as Robert Frank, Walker Evans and Dorthea Lange, and produced the first and most comprehensive survey of Americans by an African American photographer.
2014 Sonya Clark
Sonya Clark participated in the Gibbes Museum’s Visiting Artist Residency in 2016. Her exhibit, We Are Each Other, is currently on display at the Museum of Art and Design in New York City following its debut at the High Museum of Art in Atlanta. Her work is in numerous prestigious collections, including the Smithsonian Museum of American Art.
2017 Bo Bartlett
Bo Bartlett opened the Bo Bartlett Center at Columbus State University shortly after receiving the award. Based on the belief that art can change lives, the center focuses on community outreach programs that help foster inclusivity by encouraging participation from diverse voices, as well as partnering with other institutions.
2023 Sherrill Roland
Sherrill Roland’s multimedia art practice combines installation, sculpture and performance to describe his experience serving 10 months in prison for a crime for which he was later exonerated.
Celebrating the 1858 Prize for Contemporary Southern Art runs through Jan. 12, 2025, at the Gibbes Museum of Art. For more on the exhibit, and the three 2024 finalists in contention for this year’s prize, visit www.gibbesmuseum.org/1858-prize/. A forthcoming article will cover the museum’s Nov. 13 panel discussion on the prize and its history.
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