MUSE: A Carolina Creatives Juried Art Competition Carolina Muse Literary & Arts Magazine (Gold Star Program) Gold Star

Carolina Muse Literary & Arts Magazine is thrilled to announce our 2025 juried art competition at the Artistry Gallery in Greenville, South Carolina! We want to know what inspires you, where you find your creativity, or who fuels your fire; in other words, “What is your muse?”

We are dedicated to creating opportunities for artists in the Carolinas. With this competition, we hope to display the talent of this region with a wide range of subjects & visual art forms. Chosen artists will get to showcase their artwork for sale at the Artistry Gallery from June–July 2025 and will also have the chance to win up to $300 in prize money.

Visual artists from across the U.S. who have a strong connection to the Carolinas are invited to apply. Selected works must be for sale and will be showcased at the Artistry Gallery in Greenville, SC from June–July 2025. The show’s opening night & awards ceremony will take place on the evening of June 6th, 2025. The submission fee is $25 for up to 3 entries.

Important Dates:

April 28, 2025- Entry deadline

May 6- Accepted works announced

May 20-June 3rd- Drop off window

June 6- Opening night and awards ceremony

July 25- Final day of show

July 25- 31- Pickup window

Awards:

Best in Show- $300

People’s Choice (voted on opening night)- $100

1st Place- $150

2nd Place- $100

3rd Place- $75

All awards come with a guaranteed spot in Volume V, Issue III of Carolina Muse.

Juror Information:

Madison Foster, editor-in-chief of Carolina Muse, will be judging the artwork selected to award prizes along with art editor Lilliana Cameron and guest juror Amy Coleman, artist & gallery manager at the Artistry Gallery.

Madison Foster has been passionate about the arts in their full scope since she was little. Growing up in Greenville, SC, she could always be found with her face in a book or a guitar strapped over her shoulder. While attending Elon University in North Carolina, she grew her writing & design skills as an English literature major with minors in communications & multimedia authoring. Post-grad, Madison’s love for publishing and the arts led her to bring Carolina Muse Literary & Arts Magazine to life in 2020. The multimedia arts magazine provides a platform for artists from all of the creative arts to share their message. In addition to her work as editor-in-chief of Carolina Muse, Madison works as a social media manager in Western North Carolina.

Lilliana Cameron is a visual artist who has lived all over the Carolinas and is now residing in Greenville, SC. She is an alumni of the College of Charleston, where she majored in studio art and arts management with a minor in art history. In her art, she aspires to capture beauty in the small, everyday moments and inspire a sort of introspection. She works in a variety of mediums but has a strong love for oil paint, watercolor, and charcoal. More of her work can be found on her website, www.lillianacameron.com.

Amy Coleman grew up in Texas and has a strong belief that art is everywhere and can be anything. Coleman, along with her husband Ryan Calloway, has been running the Artistry Gallery in Greenville, SC since 2009. The gallery is committed to showcasing emerging artists in the Upstate & beyond. Coleman has a BA in Psychology from Furman University. She is proud to be part of the Greenville art community and to have been surrounded by so many talented creators over the past 16 years.

Kelly McSharry is a life-long supporter of the arts. She completed graduate school at Furman University. Former owner of Creating Artists for Tomorrow (CATS), a children's art school, Kelly now serves as the visual arts chair for Artisphere 2025 in Greenville, South Carolina.

Requirements:

• Eligibility
  • Artists must be 18 years or older and must have a strong connection to the Carolinas. Artwork must have been made within the last 3 years. Artists previously published in Carolina Muse are welcome to apply, but their application cannot include the work which was published in Carolina Muse. 2-D work cannot exceed 40 inches (framed) in any dimension. 3-D work cannot exceed 30 inches in any dimension and must be hand delivered. Artwork must be for sale. The Artistry Gallery handles all transactions and will receive a 30% commission fee from all sales.
• Mediums Accepted
  • Eligible mediums include oil, acrylic, watercolor, gouache, pastel, drawing, photography, printmaking processes (no digital art), bronze, glass, ceramics, stone, and mixed-media.
• Presentation
  • 2D artwork must be ready to hang (framed with hanging wire or gallery-wrapped canvases with hanging wire). Any artwork received without proper hanging tools will not be displayed. Feel free to email [email protected] if you have any questions or concerns about this.
• Delivery
  • Hand-delivered work can be made to The Artistry Gallery in Greenville, SC between May 30-June 3 (a time must be arranged before meeting). Shipped artwork must have a mail-by date of May 31 or earlier. (Exact address in Greenville will be emailed to you upon acceptance.)
• Please reach out with any questions regarding eligibility.