Annual nine-state South Arts exhibition returns to the Bo Bartlett Center Feb. 1

January 8, 2024

The Bo Bartlett Center will once again host the annual South Arts traveling exhibition showcasing works by this year’s cohort of nine Southern artists. The exhibition opens Feb. 1 and will be available for viewing until April 12.

South Arts, a nonprofit regional organization, empowers artists, organizations and communities, and increases access to arts and culture. It fulfills that mission by supporting artists and organizations through a rich and responsive portfolio of grants, fellowships and programs.

Its annual Southern Prize and State Fellowships for Visual Arts program showcases the talents of nine Southeastern visual artists — competitively selected by a panel of jurors from a pool of 800-plus applicants — who represent various disciplines and career levels. The fellowships are awarded in cooperation with the National Endowment for the Arts and state art agencies in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee — and with additional funding from other public and private donors.

“We are so excited to celebrate the 2023 State Fellows for Visual Arts,” said Susie Surkamer, president and CEO of South Arts. “Their work is a deep reflection of our time, powerfully telling their individual stories of immigration status, disability, race, sense of place and more. Each State Fellow has the talent to convey so much through their creativity, and they collectively build toward our better understanding of artists in the South.”

The touring exhibition displays works by those State Fellows, who include Beizar Aradini (craft, Tennessee), Kelly Bryant (drawing, Alabama), Victoria Dugger (multidisciplinary, Georgia, winner), Chris Friday (multidisciplinary, Florida), Alexis McGrigg (multidisciplinary, Mississippi), Nadia Meadows (sculpture, North Carolina), Rachel Moser (multidisciplinary, Kentucky), Carlie Trosclair (sculpture, Louisiana), and Michael Webster (sculpture, South Carolina, finalist).

“We are delighted to host this amazingly talented group of artists,” said Mike McFalls, director of the Bo Bartlett Center and a professor in the university’s Department of Art. “Their work is a testament to the strength of art in the South, presenting diverse themes, visions and styles.”

On Thursday, Feb. 15, the Bo Bartlett Center will host a South Arts public reception from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Many of the artists are expected to be in attendance.

On Thursday, March 7, Victoria Dugger (pictured) will return for an artist talk beginning at 6 p.m. Dugger, winner of this year’s Southern Prize for Visual Arts, received her bachelor of fine art degree from Columbus State in 2016, and more recently, a master of fine arts in painting from the Lamar Dodd School of Arts at the University of Georgia. Dugger works in painting, mixed media and sculpture, creating pieces that challenge traditional categories and explore new modes of self-expression and embodiment. Her work examines her identity as a Black, disabled woman, blending playful compositions with grotesque imagery. 

"As a disabled Black woman, I have a desire for people to accept or appreciate me for both my surface and what’s below it; to humanize me not because of my appearance, but despite it," Dugger shares in her artist's statement. "My paintings channel the complexity of my identity. Through bold colors, sly references to art history, fractured patterns, and overflowing viscera. I create a surface of works that are richly layered, both demanding attention and refusing any simple legibility."

Dugger had her debut New York solo show "Out of Body" with Sargent’s Daughters in July 2021, which was featured by Vogue, Hyperallergic, artnet, ARTnews, Whitehot Magazine, and artdaily. Her work has also been featured recently in New American Paintings South Edition and in Burnaway.

The Bo Barlett Center appreciates philanthropic support from the Norman and Emmy Lou Illges Foundation for making the South Arts exhibition possible. Following its exhibition at the Bo Bartlett Center, South Arts 2023 will travel to Tallahassee, Florida.

ABOUT SOUTH ARTS’ STATE FELLOWSHIPS FOR VISUAL ARTS PROGRAM

As a response to a gap in regional funding opportunities for individual artists in the South, South Arts created the Southern Prize and State Fellowships for Visual Arts to acknowledge of the important role artists play in the well-being of a region’s culture. Now in its 7th year, South Arts’ State Fellowships for Visual Arts are awarded annually to one artist in each of the nine states in South Arts’ region: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee.

Launched in 2017, the program aims to empower artists with visual narratives that speak to deeper truths about the perils and hardships, as well as the opportunities for optimism and justice, in daily life in the South and beyond. Spanning the diverse scope of visual arts, the program supports artists across disciplines and categories, including craft, drawing, experimental, painting, photography, sculpture, mixed media and multidisciplinary.

Its flagship State Fellows program involves a state-specific prize awarded to artists whose work reflects the highest quality visual arts being created in the South. A national jury selects one winner per eligible state, for a group of nine state fellows, based on artistic excellence that reflects and represents the diversity of the region.

Dugger (left) received the 2023 Southern Prize for Visual Arts, presented by South Arts board chair Neil Barclay (right) (photo credit: South Arts)

Each awardee receives a $5,000 state fellowship and an opportunity to win the annual Southern Prize for Visual Arts. The prize winner and finalist, both of whom are decided by a second jury, receive an additional $25,000 and $10,000 prize, respectively. In addition to the larger cash prizes, both Southern Prize recipients receive a two-week residency at the 600-acre The Hambidge Center for the Creative Arts and Sciences art sanctuary in Rabun Gap, Georgia.

Founded in 1975 to build on the South’s unique heritage and enhance the public value of the arts, South Arts responds to the arts environment and cultural trends with a regional perspective. South Arts offers an annual portfolio of activities designed to support the success of artists and arts providers in the South, address the needs of Southern communities through impactful arts-based programs, and celebrate the excellence, innovation, value and power of the arts of the South.

ABOUT THE BO BARTLETT CENTER

Columbus State University’s Bo Bartlett Center is a dynamic, creative learning laboratory that is part gallery/museum, part experimental arts incubator, and part community center. Located in Uptown Columbus and part of the Columbus State University RiverPark Campus, its 18,000-square-foot interactive gallery space hosts six to eight rotating exhibitions of regional, national and international acclaim each year. It also permanently houses The Scarborough Collection — 14 monumental paintings by the center’s namesake, artist Bo Bartlett — as well as the complete archive of sketchbooks, correspondence, journals, recordings, photographs, artistic notes, memorabilia and objects relevant to the production of Bartlett’s work.

Except when closed for holidays, the Bo Bartlett Center is open Tuesdays through Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission is free. For more information, visit bartlettcenter.columbusstate.edu.

Media contact:
Joshua Newbend, Bo Bartlett Center gallery coordinator, 706.569.4099, newbend_joshua@columbusstate.edu 

Relevant news coverage:
Michael McFalls of the Bo Bartlett Center on the South Arts Exhibition (Feb. 26, 2024, Columbus CEO)