Meet the Coined in the South Winners

Meet the Coined in the South winners

BY MICHELE HUGGINS, COMMUNICATIONS & MEDIA RELATIONS PROJECT MANAGER

Coined in the South, the Young Affiliates of the Mint’s fourth-annual juried art show, put 45 artists’ dynamic works of art on display at Mint Museum Uptown. For the first time in the art show’s run, prizes were awarded totaling $16,000. The exhibition, on view through Feb. 16, showcases established and emerging artists currently working in or from the Southeast.

Johannes Barfield of Winston-Salem was awarded the $10,000 Atrium Health “Best in Show” Award for his two mixed-media pieces. His photograph and mixed-media work The Green House on Cornell Blvd—the striking work that greets you as soon as you walk into the Level 4 gallery—is inspired by his childhood memories playing with his cousin, who is portrayed in the photo. Red clay soil on a yellow canvas is incorporated into the artwork to represent connections between the South and Africa. In The Bilge Again, his second piece in the exhibition, was inspired by Jim Crow-era guidebook The Negro Motorist Green Book, which included data on safe spaces for black people traveling in America.

Davidson resident Katie St. Claire was awarded $5,000 as the winner of the “YAMs Choice” Award for her piece, Wayside. The dynamic work of art is a time-based installation of spheres made of locally collected debris held together by ice and suspended over a canvas to melt over time. Guests who attended the public opening on Oct. 10 saw the piece evolve over the course of the night.

Georgia resident Ken West won the $1,000 “People’s Choice” Award for his photo on metallic paper titled Black Boys Cry. West’s two works of art in Coined in the South, including his photo Father of Man, encourage audiences to reevaluate how they view black men and masculinity.

Read about all 45 artists and the inspiration behind their art at mintmuseum.org/coined-in-the-south.