Living, breathing proof of the power of art – that’s what the South’s most engaging art competition/festival, ArtFields, manifests. Launched in the spring of 2013 with a simple goal of honoring artists in the Southeast, ArtFields’ week-long art competition in the heart of small-town Lake City, S.C., has flourished from a tiny seed taking root to ever-expanding, lush and colorful fields full of pride for what our region’s artists brilliantly create.

The ArtFields Winners Collection will be on display May 31-Sept. 21 at the Franklin G Burroughs-Simon B. Chapin in Myrtle Beach.

Historically, the southeastern United States isn’t typically recognized as an epicenter of fine art. Southern culture is perhaps better known for its cuisine, hospitality, history, literature, and craft: pottery, quilting/needlework, woodwork, metalwork, beading, basketry and glasswork. But the distinction between what is considered fine art versus that which is craft is evolving. Craft is traditionally defined as an object created for functional use, whereas fine art is more of a vehicle for self expression and aesthetic appeal. But the lines between functional and purely aesthetic art are being blurred. Once-considered craft objects are becoming better appreciated as works of art in their own right. And this trend is one that has arguably grown out of the many artists/makers working in the South, whose creative and contemporary use of materials traditionally associated with crafts are changing the way we think about these objects – as elevated beyond pure function to that of art.

Shown above, Jim Arendt (Conway, S.C.), the very first Grand Prize winner of Artfields (2013), uses denim as his medium to create large-scale portraits. Denim, a textile created to be a durable and comfortable material for hardworking people in both rural and industrial industries, is cut and sewn into stunningly realistic layered portrait collages meant to be admired on a wall. Arendt says his “materials purposely reflect the lives and struggles of the people I come from.”

Michaela Pilar Brown’s (Columbia, S.C.) installation She’s Almost Ready, which won the 2018 Grand Prize, explores the then-current national dialogue around sexual abuse. In general, Brown’s work explores familial histories through an archiving of objects – heirlooms – and the personal mythologies associated with them. She’s Almost Ready consists of a variety of suspended textiles, an open, eerily lighted woodshed, stacked books and crushed glass neatly swept into piles on the floor that faintly suggest a familiar Southern landscape – perhaps a country yard with laundry on the line and a tool shed – but one to be wary of entering.

Victoria Hagner (Sumter, S.C.), winner of the 2018 People’s Choice Award (3D), pushes the medium of mosaic to the next level with her three-dimensional collared shirt titled Mr. Brooks that is constructed in the round with meticulously placed tesserae. 

A 2016 top prize winner, Brent Pafford (Clemson, S.C.) pays homage to the cast iron skillet, a quintessential Southern kitchen necessity, with his installation Remember This as a Time of Day. His wall of black and white porcelain skillets are a commentary on contemporary society’s habit of disposing of inherited domestic objects, like frying pans, that were created and purchased with the intention of sustaining its purpose for generations to come. By giving the skillets new life as art objects and removing their function as cooking tools, Pafford imbues value and worth back into these “discarded” objects and ensures they’ll be enjoyed by those who encounter them for lifetimes to come. 

ArtFields offers over $145,000 in cash prizes each year to participating artists, who must reside in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia or West Virginia to be eligible to enter the competition. A panel selects the Grand Prize winner ($50,000); a Second Place winner ($25,000), and an assortment of merit awards. The winners of two People’s Choice Awards – one for 2D and one for 3D – are determined by the votes of ArtFields visitors.