Southern Prize and State Fellowships for Visual Arts
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, which includes North Carolina. Nine state fellows, each representing their home state, will be selected through a two-tiered selection process by a national jury. A different national jury will select the winner of the Southern Prize and also a finalist from among the state fellows. 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. The deadline is March 18, 2026.
Visual Art/
2026 Art Exhibit at Airlie Gardens
Airlie Gardens, in Wilmington, N.C., invites artists or teams of artists to submit designs for its fourteenth annual art exhibit, “unFROGettable.” The chosen artists will be asked to decorate, paint, or otherwise adorn one of ten oversized fiberglass frogs that will be placed throughout the grounds for guests to enjoy as part of their garden experience. Designs will be selected based on creativity, craftsmanship, use of materials, and the ability to appeal to all age groups, as well as outdoor sustainability and durability. The artist-designed frog sculptures will be on view from July through December 2026. The deadline is March 20, 2026.
Performing Arts/
BMCA Theatre Call for Proposals
The Black Mountain Center for the Arts (BMCA) Theatre invites directors, producers, playwrights, and theater companies to submit proposals for the 2026–2027 season. BMCA is a nonprofit community arts organization that has supported local creativity for more than 25 years. Its theater offers producing groups extensive support: ticketing, front-of-house operations, marketing and press outreach, technical orientation, and shared box office revenue. The deadline is March 20, 2026.
Public Art/
Artistic Bus (W)RAP 2026
Chapel Hill Community Arts & Culture is 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. This artistic bus “(w)rap” connects to Talk of the Town, a community mixtape in progress by Donovan Livingston, Chapel Hill’s poet laureate. Selected finalists will receive a stipend, access to the official Chapel Hill mixtape lyrics, and the chance to collaborate with Donovan during a creative session prior to submitting their proposals. One artist or team will be chosen to bring their proposal to life. The installed artwork will be displayed on the bus for approximately two years. The deadline is March 24, 2026.
Professional development
March 26, 2026 from 4–5:30 p.m.
A Guided Tour of Readiness, Response, and Recovery Resources: Navigate the landscape of support for artists and arts organizations
This webinar will guide artists, small arts organizations, and those who support them through the growing world of resources available to them. Participants will navigate the landscape of information hubs, financial assistance, networks, guides, and publications—learning what’s most useful at different stages of readiness, response, and recovery. The facilitators will point out both national and local resources, share insider tips on what’s most practical, and explain the sometimes confusing emergency management “word soup.” By the end of the webinar, participants will know where to go for help, how to access it quickly, and how to help others find their way.
This webinar from South Arts is part of a five-part readiness webinar series offered in partnership with the National Coalition for Arts’ Preparedness and Emergency Response (NCAPER).
See more upcoming webinars in this series.
Grants and fellowships
Artist Creative Practice Grants
South Arts offers Artist Creative Practice Grants to ensure that artists from our region can take advantage of career-enhancing opportunities. The grant supports a variety of professional development opportunities, including milestone activities in an artist’s career that will likely lead to substantial career growth. Grants up to $3,000 are available for opportunities taking place between November 1, 2025, and June 30, 2026. The deadline is April 30, 2026.
The Hopper Prize was established to provide grants, visibility, and career-enhancing validation to artists who demonstrate a serious commitment to their work. Submissions are now being accepted for spring 2026 individual artist grants. The Hopper Prize will award six unrestricted cash grants totaling $13,000, with two artists receiving $4,500 and four artists receiving $1,000. Grant awardees are chosen solely on the basis of artistic excellence and promise. All visual art media are eligible. The deadline is May 12, 2026.
Artist Support Grants are funded by the N.C. Arts Council and administered through partnerships with regional consortia of local arts councils. These grants help professional artists in any discipline and at any stage of their careers pursue projects that advance their artistic and professional development. Grant amounts and deadlines vary from region to region. Most are between $500 and $2,000. Contact your
granting local arts council
for details.
Visual arts
Thanks to our arts partners throughout North Carolina and around the country, our website has an abundance of user-submitted visual arts listings. Visit our
Artist Opportunities page
,
where you will see calls for submissions in almost all media.
New artist opportunities added regularly!
For details and additional listings, please visit the North Carolina Arts Council’s
Artist Opportunities page
.
Please note that artist opportunities are submitted by members of the community. Each opportunity is independently managed by its sponsor and is not overseen by the North Carolina Arts Council.