The City of North Charleston Cultural Arts Department today announced Mary Glenn Keadle of Charleston, as the winner of the 2026 North Charleston Arts Fest Poster Design Competition. As the winner of the statewide contest, Keadle’s acrylic painting, titled Looking North, will be used to promote the 2026 North Charleston Arts Fest, taking place April 29-May 3. In addition, the artist was awarded a $1000 cash prize and the piece has become part of the City of North Charleston’s Public Art Collection.
Thirty-three artists working in 16 cities across South Carolina submitted 87 entries for consideration for the 2026 North Charleston Arts Fest Poster Design Competition. Keadle submitted two entries, each colorfully depicting aerial views of North Charleston Riverfront Park. Her winning painting, Looking North, utilizes layered textures and pops of exposed underpainting to guide the viewer’s eye and evoke movement and depth. “Rather than creating a generic festival poster that could belong to any city, my goal was to paint something unmistakably North Charleston—bold, vibrant, and grounded in its own history and geography,” Keadle explains. “Through this work, I hope to celebrate the city’s unique landscape and artistic spirit.”
Raised in a small upstate town in South Carolina, Mary Glenn Keadle received her first watercolor lessons from her aunt while vacationing on Pawleys Island at age seven. These painting sessions instilled a deep appreciation for nature and art from an early age, and the opportunity to share her work publicly each summer helped shape Mary Glenn as a young artist. She continued painting in her spare time as an undergrad at Clemson University and while working on an M.A. in English through a joint program at the College of Charleston and The Citadel.
Mary Glenn Keadle
Mary Glenn’s works were featured in numerous juried exhibitions in 2025 and her paintings and prints can currently be found at Charleston Artist Guild Gallery in downtown Charleston. She is currently working to expand on familiar Lowcountry and rural motifs as a 2026 Emerging Artist Grantee through the South Carolina Arts Commission. Learn more about the artist at maryglennkeadle.com.
A collection of Mary Glenn’s paintings will be on display at Park Circle Gallery from April 29-May 30, 2026. The exhibit will feature her winning piece, Looking North, along with several recent works exploring rural South Carolina and its small towns as both a physical landscape and a remembered one. A free public reception will be held at the gallery on Saturday, May 2, 2026, from 5-7pm. T-shirts and posters featuring the winning design will be available for purchase at the gallery, as well as at select festival events.
For more information about the North Charleston Arts Fest or other competition and exhibition opportunities, contact the City of North Charleston Cultural Arts Department at (843)740-5854, email culturalarts@northcharleston.