The Harvey B. Gantt Center on Friday will open a touring exhibition featuring the works of nine Southern artists, each a 2021 recipients of a Southern Prize & State Fellowship.

For those selected, the competition offered $80,000 in total awards and national exposure through the touring exhibition. The competition was sponsored by South Arts, an Atlanta-based nonprofit that promotes “meaningful change” through the arts.

The participating artists hail from Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee. 

Each artist’s work showcases diverse themes, visions and styles that represent the impact of art in the South.

“We are excited to showcase the incredibly talented artists and works from the South Arts 2021 Southern Prize & State Fellows,” said Gantt Center President David R. Taylor.

“It has been a pleasure to partner with the South Arts organization, whose goal includes increasing access to arts and culture across communities.”

Joyce Garner, a featured artist from Prospect, Kentucky, will showcase four paintings. Garner describes herself as an emotional artist who uses vibrant colors to tell stories.

“My paintings are filled with hopes, regrets and wishes about the past and the future,” she told QCity Metro. “They are like an ancestry chart or family tree where each choice branches onward emotional dialogues.”

Marrielle Plaisir, a French-Caribbean artist based in Hollywood, Florida, applied to the fellowship to gain exposure for her work, which includes paintings, sculptures and photography that focus on issues of colonialism and race.

The “South Arts” exhibition, she said, offers a platform for Southern artists to address social issues at home and around the globe. 

“We can unify our different works, our different narratives, in a positive way to change the world,” she said.

The exhibition will go through May 29, 2022.

Here is a list of the artists included in the exhibition:

• Tameca Cole: Birmingham, Alabama (mixed media)
• Marielle Plaisir: Hollywood, Florida (mixed media)
• Myra Greene: Atlanta (craft)
• Joyce Garner: Prospect, Kentucky (painting)
• Chandra McCormick and Keith Calhoun: New Orleans, Louisiana (photography)
• Ming Ying Hong: Starkville, Mississippi (drawing)
• Jewel Ham: Huntersville, North Carolina (painting)
• Fletcher Williams III: North Charleston, South Carolina (mixed media).
• Raheleh Filsoofi: Nashville, Tennessee (multidisciplinary).

If you go:

Date: Friday, March. 18
Time: 6 p.m. – 9 p.m.
Place: Harvey B. Gantt Center
Tickets: Free