The South Arts Southern Prize and State Fellowships acknowledge, support, and celebrate the highest quality artistic work being created in the American South. The program is open to individual artists living in the South Arts region: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee. 

The cohort of nine-state fellows will be selected through a two-tiered selection process by a national jury. A second national jury will select the Southern Prize Winner and Finalist. Jurors will make their selections based on artistic excellence that reflects and represents the array of artistic expression of the region. This program is open to visual artists in several categories.

State fellows for Visual Arts, including the Southern Prize winner and finalist, will have their work featured in a traveling exhibition that will tour throughout the region. 

Fees or awards 
Awards include the South Arts State Fellowships: $5,000 (awarded to nine state fellows, each representing an eligible state in the South Arts region) and the South Arts Southern Prize: $25,000 and $10,000 (awarded to the winner and finalist, respectively). Fees: A $25 online application fee. Please note: If the application fee creates a barrier, the applicant may request a waiver from South Arts by contacting southernprize@southarts.org.

The Black Mountain Center for the Arts invites directors, producers, playwrights, and theatre companies to submit proposals for the 2026–2027 BMCA Theatre season!

As part of the Black Mountain Center for the Arts—a nonprofit community arts organization that has supported local creativity for over 25 years—BMCA Theatre offers producing groups extensive support, including ticketing, front-of-house operations, marketing and press outreach, technical orientation, and shared box office revenue. Proposals must be submitted by 12 pm on Friday, March 20, 2026, to be considered.

Location
Black Mountain, NC

Fees or awards
No fees; Revenue split

Artists are invited to apply for Airlie Gardens’ 2026 Art Exhibit, unFROGettable!

Airlie Gardens is inviting artists and artist teams to apply for its 2026 outdoor art exhibit, unFROGettable. Selected artists will decorate, paint, and adorn one of ten oversized fiberglass frog sculptures, transforming them into unique works of art displayed throughout the gardens. The artist-designed frog sculptures will be installed across the grounds from July through December 2026.

Location
Wilmington, NC

Fees or awards
$900 artist honorarium

Midwest Nice Art is excited to share our upcoming Spring 2026 virtual exhibition, this place is strange, with you! For better or worse, the Midwest has a “nice” reputation, with friendly smiles, polite small talk, and a whole lot of “ope, sorry!” But underneath that kind surface level, things can get a little… strange.

The exhibition will examine this idea through a variety of mediums in art. Any mediums are welcome, including but not limited to sculpture, painting, collage, photography, digital art, video art, installation, ceramics, performance art…anything you can think of! You may submit up to 3 artworks for a $5 fee, due March 20, 2026. Artists will receive a notification a week after the deadline. The exhibition will go live April 2026.

Location
Virtual

Fees or awards
$5 submission fee. Students may submit for free with the code student26 (to use this, please use your school email when applying).

The Black Mountain Center for the Arts invites artists to submit work for Pure Flora, a gallery exhibition celebrating the beauty, presence, and power of plants, botanicals, and flowers.

This exhibition will be featured as a special lead-in to BMCA’s beloved Art in Bloom event, highlighting nature-inspired artwork from across Western North Carolina. We welcome original interpretations of the theme in all styles—from realistic to abstract, traditional to experimental.

Location
Black Mountain, NC

Fees or awards
$15 submission fee. If you are unable to pay the entry fee, please let us know that you are requesting a scholarship (director@blackmountainarts.org).

The Arts & Science Council (ASC) is accepting qualifications from artists/artist teams for a public art opportunity at Sugaw Creek Park, Charlotte, NC, to create free-standing artwork that responds to the parameters of the site and the themes identified by the project team.

Location
Charlotte, NC

Fees or awards
PROJECT BUDGET $160,459.00 USD– to cover all artist fees, design, engineering, testing, fabrication, permitting, and installation. As well as: travel, public meeting presentations, administration, taxes, and insurance relating to the project.

We’re seeking Triangle-based artists who love music and can translate rhythm, lyricism, and flow into bold visual artwork for the exterior of a Chapel Hill Transit bus. Blurring the lines between music and visual design, this artistic bus (w)rap connects to "Talk of the Town," a community mixtape in progress by Chapel Hill Poet Laureate Donovan Livingston. Once installed, the new bus wrap may become the visual counterpart to musical programming on the bus, known as “bus raps.” The installed artwork will be displayed on the bus for approximately two years.

Location
Chapel Hill, NC

Fees or awards
Finalist Stipends: $400/artist or team; Project Stipend: $2,500 for the selected artist or team

Mallarmé Music is inviting applications for our Dynamic Duo program, a series of short concerts to be presented live. Performances will be scheduled for the the summer or fall 2026 beginning in June in or around Durham, NC. Chosen duos will receive $1000 for one performance, dates and venues TBD based on winner's availability.

Our goal is both to showcase local musical talent and to expand on the style and genre of our usual programming. Ensembles will thus be chosen on the basis of both performance skill and the proposed program.

BIPOC and LGBTQ musicians as well as non-classical ensembles are encouraged to apply!

Location
Durham, NC

Fees or awards
Concert performance and $1,000

Vision(ary) is our museum's 7th annual summer public art exhibition dedicated to the art of visual storytelling. Juried by Elizabeth Krist (former Senior Photo Editor with National Geographic) this public art installation features individual exhibitions with distinct photographic styles, including banners hung on light standards and art installations around the Griffin Museum in Winchester, MA.

Location
Winchester, MA

Fees or awards
$45 submission fee

We’re looking for a Triangle-based artist or artist team to design and install outdoor murals on two exterior walls at the entrance of the newly-landscaped Chapel Hill Community Center at 120 South Estes Drive. The mural design is open to artistic interpretation. Murals could be realistic or more abstract, and the project should involve opportunities for community input or involvement.

Location
Chapel Hill, NC

Fees or awards
Finalist stipends: $750/artist or team; Project stipend: $24,000 for the selected artist or team