- 2024 Previewers
Brittani Taylor. Brittani Taylor is a multifaceted visual artist, creative director, and photographer, driven by a profound passion for art and the creative process. Her mission is to ignite inspiration and enthusiasm within communities through her artistic vision. With a bachelor’s degree in studio arts and photography from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Brittani's artistic journey is deeply rooted in her environment and upbringing. She possesses a unique ability to infuse ordinary subjects with profound significance, reflecting her keen artistic insight. Central to Brittani's work is her exploration of the representation and identities of Black individuals throughout art history. Her body of work predominantly focuses on portraying the beauty and extraordinary qualities of Black individuals through evocative portraiture. Brittani's primary focus lies in conceptual creativity and artistic portraiture. Her work has been showcased at prestigious venues such as the Harvey B. Gantt Center, Goodyear Arts, The Gallery for Cabarrus Arts, and The Light Factory. Currently, Brittani serves as the Director of Exhibitions at The Light Factory while also pursuing her career as a freelance photographer, specializing in portraits, events, and product photography. Through her diverse portfolio and leadership role, she continues to make a significant impact in the artistic community.
Caitlin Bright. Caitlin Bright is the ArtFields Director of the Competition, Festival, and Exhibitions, leveraging over 20 years of experience in arts collaboration, project management, and institutional development. She held leadership roles as Executive Director of the 701 Center for Contemporary Art and Tapp’s Arts Center in Columbia, SC, and Momenta Art in Brooklyn, NY. Additionally, Caitlin served as Operations Director for the Moving Image Art Fair in NYC, London, and Istanbul, and as an Independent Grant Writer for Wildlife Alliance in NYC and Cambodia. Her contributions extend to Marketing and Research Associate positions at Allan Stone Gallery, and independent projects for esteemed institutions such as the Guggenheim Museum and the Venice Biennale. Caitlin Bright holds a Master of Arts in Visual Arts Administration from New York University and a Bachelor of Arts in Art History from the University of South Carolina, Columbia. She was awarded the Peggy Guggenheim Internship in Venice, Italy, underscoring her commitment to the arts.
Najee Dorsey. Born in Blytheville, Arkansas on January 26, 1973, Najee Dorsey is a visual artist and entrepreneur renowned for his portrayal of southern African American life on canvas. His artistic journey began at the age of five when he sold his creations to his mother in exchange for candy, marking the start of a lifelong passion for art. While pursuing a partial scholarship to Memphis College of Art in 1991, Dorsey faced financial hurdles and left before completing his first semester, seeking a more dynamic environment. Despite various jobs, he continued creating art part-time.
During a phase of indifference towards art, Dorsey found inspiration and mentorship in artist Najjar Abdul-Musawwir, reigniting his passion. Between 1992 and 1993, he honed his craft, culminating in his first significant piece, "Guidance in the Time of Ignorance," addressing civil rights issues.
Since transitioning to full-time artistry in 2005, Dorsey has become well acquainted with the trials and tribulations of most African American artists. In response, he founded Black Art In America™ (BAIA) in 2010, a pioneering online platform addressing issues of exposure, appreciation, and access for African American artists. Dorsey's artistic repertoire includes mixed media and digital collages, often featuring unsung historical figures and scenes from southern African American life. Through his work, he emphasizes the importance of preserving untold stories.
Today, Dorsey resides in Columbus, GA with his wife, Seteria, continuing to make strides in both his artistic career and entrepreneurship, leaving a lasting impact on the African American arts community.
Najee Dorsey serves on all three 2024 Southern Prize and State Fellowships juror panels.
- 2024 State Fellowships Juror Panel
Caroline Giddis. Caroline Giddis Macia is a versatile writer, researcher, and art historian whose expertise spans from the nineteenth century to contemporary art. Currently serving as a Curatorial Research Associate at the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, she has contributed to exhibitions such as Monir Farmanfarmaian: A Mirror Garden, In the City of Light: Paris, 1850–1920, and A Long Arc: Photography and the American South since 1845.
Caroline earned her MA in art history from Savannah College of Art and Design in 2020. Prior to her role at the High Museum, she held positions at the Delaware Art Museum, the Whitney Museum of American Art, and the SCAD Museum of Art. Additionally, she served as the director of the gallery at Callanwolde Fine Arts Center.
A co-founder of the now-archived online arts publication Tesserae Press, Caroline is also recognized as an alumna of the 2019 Victorian Society in America's London Summer School.
Jamila Brown. Jamila Brown is a curator and interdisciplinary artist. Currently based in Charlotte, North Carolina, she is the curatorial assistant at The Mint Museum. Brown received her BFA in Studio Art with a focus in Photography and dual minor in Journalism and Art History from The University of North Carolina at Charlotte in 2018. She has taught workshops and classes at institutions and galleries including The Bechtler Museum of Modern Art, The Light Factory Photo Arts Center, McColl Center for Art + Innovation, and Lórien Academy of the Arts. She has served on jury panels for the Arts and Science Council of Charlotte, McColl Center, and South Arts. Curatorially, her work is based in contemporary art with a focus on emergent artists working in all media, and the coordination of innovative programs that activate exhibitions. Creatively, her practice consists of mixed media, performance and alt-process photographic works that conceptually center Black and Brown people, ancestral reverence, and spirituality.
Mattie Codling. Mattie Codling is the Deputy Director and Chief Curator at the Walter Anderson Museum of Art (WAMA) in Ocean Springs, MS. She has been a part of the WAMA staff since April 2016. Codling is responsible for exhibition research, development, and installation, as well as the care and promotion of the Museum’s permanent and loaned collections.
Codling has worked in the museum field for over fourteen years. Her passion lies in uncovering the past through contemporary modes of interpretation. At present, her work revolves around the art and legacy of American master, Walter Inglis Anderson. She is featured in the documentary, Walter Anderson, The Extraordinary Life and Art of the Islander, and has written and spoken widely on Anderson’s work.
Codling completed her undergraduate degree at The University of Mississippi where she double majored in Art History and Anthropology. She received her Master’s degree in Art History from Florida State University with a specialization in Museum Studies.
Curation and methods of intuitive design are areas of specific interest for Codling. Her work seeks to foster appreciation of historic artworks and objects through the use of modern modes of interpretation. A Southerner by birth, Codling is drawn to artwork that pulls from the region’s rich legacy, yet confronts it as a reflection of contemporary society.
Najee Dorsey. Born in Blytheville, Arkansas on January 26, 1973, Najee Dorsey is a visual artist and entrepreneur renowned for his portrayal of southern African American life on canvas. His artistic journey began at the age of five when he sold his creations to his mother in exchange for candy, marking the start of a lifelong passion for art. While pursuing a partial scholarship to Memphis College of Art in 1991, Dorsey faced financial hurdles and left before completing his first semester, seeking a more dynamic environment. Despite various jobs, he continued creating art part-time.
During a phase of indifference towards art, Dorsey found inspiration and mentorship in artist Najjar Abdul-Musawwir, reigniting his passion. Between 1992 and 1993, he honed his craft, culminating in his first significant piece, "Guidance in the Time of Ignorance," addressing civil rights issues.
Since transitioning to full-time artistry in 2005, Dorsey has become well acquainted with the trials and tribulations of most African American artists. In response, he founded Black Art In America™ (BAIA) in 2010, a pioneering online platform addressing issues of exposure, appreciation, and access for African American artists. Dorsey's artistic repertoire includes mixed media and digital collages, often featuring unsung historical figures and scenes from southern African American life. Through his work, he emphasizes the importance of preserving untold stories.
Today, Dorsey resides in Columbus, GA with his wife, Seteria, continuing to make strides in both his artistic career and entrepreneurship, leaving a lasting impact on the African American arts community.
Najee Dorsey serves on all three 2024 Southern Prize and State Fellowships juror panels.
- 2024 Southern Prize Juror Panel
Becky Nahom. Becky Nahom is the Director of Exhibitions at Independent Curators International (ICI), New York, where she has developed numerous experimental exhibitions that challenge art historical narratives across the globe. During her time at ICI, Nahom has overseen the series of exhibitions curated by ICI’s Curatorial Intensive alumni and partnered with museums around the world to develop groundbreaking curatorial achievements such as Axis Mundo: Queer Networks in Chicano L.A., Soundings: An Exhibition in Five Parts, and Teddy Sandoval and the Butch Gardens School of Art. Prior to joining ICI, Nahom founded Halt Gallery in Phoenix, Arizona, which operated out of a renovated shipping container in the Roosevelt Row Arts District. She has also held multiple positions within the Scottsdale Arts Organization, as Assistant Preparator at the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art and Events + Exhibitions Assistant at Scottsdale Public Art, and holds a master’s degree in curatorial practice.
Dr. Laura Hutchison Bhatti. Dr. Laura Hutchison Bhatti is the Director of Collections & Exhibitions at the Metal Museum. Dr. Bhatti received her PhD in Classics and Classical Archaeology from Johns Hopkins University. With an academic background in ancient Mediterranean craft and iconography, Dr. Bhatti has more recently turned her curatorial eye to modern American craft, specifically metal work. At the Metal Museum, Dr. Bhatti enjoys encouraging questions around making and displaying, relishes in witnessing engagement with three-dimensional objects in the galleries and finds the opportunity to collaborate with living artists a refreshing shift from her background in the ancient past. A native Memphian herself, Dr. Bhatti appreciates her role in continuing to share the history of her city through the curation of pressing and timely exhibitions.
Lia Newman. Lia Newman has held the position of Director and Curator of the Van Every/Smith Galleries at Davidson College since January 2013. She earned a BA in Art History and a BFA in General Studio with concentrations in sculpture and photography from Winthrop University and a Master of Arts from Duke University. Newman is responsible for curating exhibitions, developing exhibition-related programming, and overseeing and growing the Davidson College Art Collection, including the campus sculpture collection. With a specific interest in socially and politically engaged art practices, Newman’s curatorial projects have explored an array of topics from HIV to immigration. Recent group exhibitions include the multi-venue traveling exhibition True Likeness, co-curated with Tom Stanley; The sun still rises in spite of everything; From Pandemic to Protests; and State of Emergency. Solo curatorial exhibitions include those with Hiwa K, Yinka Shonibare CBE, Arthur Jafa, Regina Jose Galindo, Nicholas Galanin, Harold Mendez, and Jacolby Satterwhite, among many others. In the last ten years, Newman has helped the college acquire more than 1000 works of art, including significant sculptures and commissions that have contributed to diversifying the collection.
Najee Dorsey. Born in Blytheville, Arkansas on January 26, 1973, Najee Dorsey is a visual artist and entrepreneur renowned for his portrayal of southern African American life on canvas. His artistic journey began at the age of five when he sold his creations to his mother in exchange for candy, marking the start of a lifelong passion for art. While pursuing a partial scholarship to Memphis College of Art in 1991, Dorsey faced financial hurdles and left before completing his first semester, seeking a more dynamic environment. Despite various jobs, he continued creating art part-time.
During a phase of indifference towards art, Dorsey found inspiration and mentorship in artist Najjar Abdul-Musawwir, reigniting his passion. Between 1992 and 1993, he honed his craft, culminating in his first significant piece, "Guidance in the Time of Ignorance," addressing civil rights issues.
Since transitioning to full-time artistry in 2005, Dorsey has become well acquainted with the trials and tribulations of most African American artists. In response, he founded Black Art In America™ (BAIA) in 2010, a pioneering online platform addressing issues of exposure, appreciation, and access for African American artists. Dorsey's artistic repertoire includes mixed media and digital collages, often featuring unsung historical figures and scenes from southern African American life. Through his work, he emphasizes the importance of preserving untold stories.
Today, Dorsey resides in Columbus, GA with his wife, Seteria, continuing to make strides in both his artistic career and entrepreneurship, leaving a lasting impact on the African American arts community.
Najee Dorsey serves on all three 2024 Southern Prize and State Fellowships juror panels.