Florida Artists: $10,000 Society 1858 Prize from the Gibbes Museum — Deadline Extended to September 14

Florida artists have one more day to enter one of the most prestigious artist prizes in the American South. The Gibbes Museum of Art in Charleston, South Carolina has extended the submission deadline for the Society 1858 Prize for Contemporary Southern Art to September 14, 2026. The prize carries a $10,000 unrestricted monetary award, a year-long exhibition of the winning artist's work at the Gibbes, and an invitation to Charleston in February 2027 for a three-day celebration honoring the winner.

Artists are eligible if they currently live anywhere in the United States and are originally from one of 14 Southern states: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia. Texas and Maryland were newly added to the list this year. Artists do not need to currently reside in the South to enter — only to have originally come from one of the eligible states.

Now in its 18th year, the Prize is presented by Society 1858, the Gibbes Museum's young professionals auxiliary group. The selection jury includes arts professionals, Society 1858 representatives, and the previous award recipient. Applications are accepted exclusively through SlideRoom.

The 2025 winner was Kandy G Lopez, an Afro-Caribbean American artist from Florida. The multidisciplinary artist explores cultural identity, representation, and power through fiber, painting, glass, and mixed media. Since winning, Lopez debuted her first international solo exhibition at the Florence Foundation in Paris, a second New York gallery solo show at ACA Galleries, and exhibited at the Armory Art Center, the Ringling College of Art + Design, and the North Dakota Museum of Art. The Gibbes Museum recently acquired one of her works for its permanent collection.

"I was deeply honored to receive this prize from the Gibbes Museum and Society 1858," says Lopez. "The competition prides itself on being a community-driven, educational experience for artists. And for me, it took on a spiritual experience too, thanks to the hospitality and generosity of the people of Charleston. The support from these unrestricted funds inspires me to continue learning and exploring new ideas that shape my practice."

"The Society 1858 Prize for Contemporary Southern Art gets to the heart of what the Gibbes Museum of Art is all about," says Dr. H. Alexander Rich, President and CEO of the Gibbes. "Celebrating and supporting living artists who represent the best of the South is core to our originating mission, and each year the Prize highlights not merely an exceptional winning artist but also the breadth of Southern creativity and ingenuity."

Past Prize winners have gone on to receive the Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship, the Joan Mitchell Fellowship, the United States Artist Fellowship, and the Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant. Works by winning artists have entered the permanent collections of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The National Gallery of Art, and the Art Institute of Chicago, among others.

The submission deadline is September 14, 2026. Entries are accepted exclusively through gibbesmuseum.slideroom.com. For full details, FAQs, and past winners, visit gibbesmuseum.org/1858-prize.