By Hannah E. Jones
Three months after receiving a phone call from South Arts about its Southern Prize and State Fellowship program, Georgia-based visual artist Victoria Dugger received another — telling her that she’d been named the 2023 Southern Prize for Visual Arts Winner.
South Arts is an Atlanta-based organization that supports artists and provides cultural enrichment within the South. In May, Dugger was named a 2023 fellow for its Southern Prize and State Fellowship program. Now in its seventh year, the program was created to provide funding opportunities for visual artists in the South and shine a spotlight on artists who tell stories of the South.
Dugger’s art includes drawing, painting, mixed media and sculptures. When speaking with SaportaReport, she described her work as Southern Gothic mixed with notes of femininity.
She was selected by a national jury from a cohort of nine artists, each from a state that South Arts serves. She said she is “shocked, honored and grateful” to be selected.
“South Arts has been really pivotal in supporting southern artists and I’m very excited to be a part of that lineage,” Dugger said. “Having this opportunity to create more work and really propel myself with the support of South Arts [is great]. All of this recognition, I’m extremely grateful for.”
As the Visual Arts Winner, Dugger will receive $25,000 to use at her discretion. She said she plans to use the funds to continue her projects, including lots of new panels and paint, and to pay her studio’s rent.
She will also embark on a two-week artist residency program this fall at The Hambidge Center in Rabun Gap, Ga. Dugger said that she’s long wanted to do a residency there, calling it an exciting and “very serendipitous” opportunity.
The 2023 cohort’s works will also be featured in a traveling exhibit, spending a few months in Biloxi, Miss., Columbus, Ga., Tallahassee, Fla., Baton Rouge, La. and Montgomery, Ala.
“We are thrilled to honor and award Victoria and Michael as recipients of the 2023 Southern Prize for Visual Arts,” President and CEO Susie Surkamer wrote in a release. “These two artists and their work reflect the mission and heart of this program. Alongside the 2023 class of fellows, we’re also thrilled to showcase their creativity and talent across the region, representing the cultural pulse of the South and demonstrating the fundamental need for arts and culture across our state lines.”
For more about Dugger and her work, click here.
