The Gibbes Museum of Art will celebrate the 15th anniversary of the 1858 Prize for Contemporary Southern Art with a major exhibition highlighting artwork and success stories of the diverse group of American artists recognized by the annual prize. Originally established as the Factor Prize for Southern Art, the annual award, underwritten by the Gibbes young patrons’ auxiliary group, Society 1858, since 2013, was developed to recognize the outstanding contributions of contemporary artists in the South.
“Recognizing and supporting artists from our region is at the heart of the Gibbes’ mission," says Angela Mack, president and CEO of the Gibbes Museum of Art. "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. We look forward to celebrating these extraordinary artists in the upcoming exhibition.”
The call for entries for the 2024 1858 Prize for Contemporary Southern Art is has been extended through August 30. The 1858 Prize finalists and winners are determined by an elite panel of arts professionals, curators, artists and previous prize winners. To apply, please visit www.1858prize.org.
Celebrating the 1858 Prize for Contemporary Southern Art, October 11, 2024 – January 12, 2025
The Gibbes Museum of Art has awarded 15 artists with the 1858 Prize for Contemporary Southern Art since its inception in 2008. Supported by the museum’s dynamic young professionals’ auxiliary group, Society 1858, the Prize recognizes artists whose work contributes to a new understanding of art in the South. This exhibition celebrates winners and finalists of what has become one of the South’s most prestigious art prizes. Each of the artists recognized by the Prize has continued to garner accolades regionally, nationally and internationally. Their successes demonstrate the importance of creating platforms that recognize and support the significant art and artists of the South.
2009 Stephen Marc
2009 winner Stephen Marc is a documentary/street photographer and digital montage artist. His works are included in collections across the country and in 2021 Marc was awarded a John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation fellowship. 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
2014 Prize winner 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, and she has received multiple awards, including a United States Artist Fellowship, an Anonymous Was a Woman Award and a Rappaport Prize, among others.
2015 Deborah Luster
2015 winner Deborah Luster’s work has been featured in groundbreaking photography exhibitions such as A Long Arc: Photography and the American South, High Museum of Art (2023), Southbound: Photographs of and about the New South, Halsey Institute (traveling, 2018-2022) and Prison Nation, Aperture Foundation New York (traveling, 2018-2022). She has also been recognized as a Ford Foundation Fellow, National Academy of Design Fellow and an artist in residence at both the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation (2016) and the Joan Mitchell Foundation (2020).
2017 Bo Bartlett
2017 Prize winner 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 to provide innovative exhibitions that deepen the public’s understanding of art.
2022 Raheleh Filsoofi
2022 Prize winner Raheleh Filsoofi, now a 2023 Joan Mitchell Fellow, will be recognized in the Gibbes Museum of Art’s permanent collection with an installation created specifically for Charleston. Her ongoing project, Imagined Boundaries: Through the Eyes of the Past and Present, explores the existing boundaries in our world, both local and global, and features videos of over 200 participants who have a strong connection to Charleston or call the city home.
