The Eastern Carolina Contemporary Biennial will hold its inaugural exhibition at the Florence County Museum in 2025. The objective is to elevate the standard of regional contemporary art exhibitions by offering a professionally juried competition composed of the most competitive contemporary art and artists representing Eastern South Carolina.
“Over the past ten years, our vision and presence have grown, so we wanted to reflect that growth with a new competition, expanding a call to artists from all of Eastern South Carolina,” says museum curator, Stephen W. Motte.
From 1954 to 2013, the museum hosted the Pee Dee Regional Art Competition, most recently presented in the FCM Waters Gallery, until the property was released for major future projects.
“The Regional kept us anchored in the local arts community, and that’s something we didn’t want to let go of,” says Motte. “The Biennial keeps that relationship, while raising the bar and widening the scope of art and artists looking for exhibition opportunities here.”
Artists will be competing for a first place award of $2500. The competition will be sponsored by Chick-fil-A of Florence, former corporate sponsor for the Pee Dee Regional Art Competition.
Entries and awards will be selected by a three-member juror’s panel.
“Contemporary art is an essential element to our ever-evolving world, as it allows the viewer to pause and to reflect on their lives through the lens of the artist. Art competitions are a marker in the career of the creator, serving as an inflection point for celebration and connection,” says juror Yu-Kai Lin, Director of Kai-Lin Art in Atlanta, GA.
The other jurors for the inaugural Biennial will be: Robin Aiken, Visual Arts Programs Director of Artisphere in Greenville, SC, and; Mills Brown, an award-winning Florence native artist now based in Oxford, England.
Online entries will be open from July 12 to September 27. Artists can submit their entries via an online registration portal on the museum’s website.
In order to qualify, artists must be a native or resident of one of the following South Carolina counties: Chesterfield, Marlboro, Dillon, Darlington, Lee, Florence, Marion, Horry, Sumter, Clarendon, Williamsburg, Georgetown, Calhoun, Orangeburg, Dorchester, Berkeley, Aiken, Barnwell, Allendale, Hampton, Bamberg, Colleton, Hampton, Jasper, Beaufort, or Charleston.
A full list of entry requirements, along with a competition overview, schedule, jurors’ information, and awards distribution can be found on the museum’s website: flocomuseum.org/biennial.
