Southern Survey Biennial III

Project Row Houses is a community-based arts and culture nonprofit founded in 1993 in Houston's Third Ward, occupying a row of restored shotgun houses on Holman Street. Its programming sits at the intersection of art, social practice, and Black cultural heritage in the U.S. South. The Southern Survey Biennial is PRH's recurring effort to spotlight contemporary visual artists rooted in the region and to commission new installation work that responds to the unique 550-square-foot shotgun-house gallery footprint.

The third edition is open to contemporary visual artists living and working in the thirteen Southern states colloquially known as 'The South': Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia. Photographers and photo-based installation artists are welcome — Round 57, the previous Southern Survey Biennial, included photographers Violette Bule and Jamire Williams alongside multidisciplinary winner Nico Brierre Aziz, who received the $25,000 juror's prize selected by Kimberli Gant, Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art at the Brooklyn Museum.

Each selected artist receives a $5,000 stipend earmarked for materials, artist fees, and creative labor, plus travel and lodging during the installation week and the October opening weekend. One participating artist will additionally receive a $25,000 prize chosen by a guest juror (yet to be named). The exhibition runs from October 2026 through February 2027 and includes an opening reception and community market in early October.

Applications are submitted through SlideRoom. The application asks for an introductory statement, a portfolio of one to five artworks, an optional budget for an installation in one of the seven shotgun-house galleries, and a written response to the question: 'Project Row Houses uplifts artists who demonstrate commitment and deference to the Southern region of the United States. How would you characterize your identity as a Southerner?' Deadline: May 31, 2026. Contact: info@projectrowhouses.org.