Fourteen awards were presented to artists who participated in Artisphere, held May 8-10 in downtown Greenville.
The GE Vernova and Huntington Bank Artist Row at Artisphere featured 140 artists representing 17 different artistic categories. Cash awards totaling $17,000 were given out to nine of the art exhibitors on Saturday morning. This year’s award winners are granted automatic acceptance to the 2027 Artisphere festival.
The 2026 Artist Row winners by category include:
- Best in Show ($5,000): Oil painters Signe and Genna Grushovenko of Greenville, South Carolina
- First Place in 2D Mixed Media ($2,500): Photographer Clifton Henri of Chicago, Illinois
- Second Place in 2D Mixed Media ($1,000): Fiber artist Lisa Telling Kattenbraker of Olympia, Washington
- First Place in 3D Mixed Media ($2,500): Metalworks artist Robert Varela of Saint Louis, Missouri
- Second Place in 3D Mixed Media ($1,000): Artist Nicario Jimenez of Naples, Florida
- Award of Excellence ($500): Printmaker Amanda Outcalt of Washington, D.C.
- Award of Excellence ($500): Drawer Jeribai Andrew Jaja of Houston, Texas
- Award of Excellence ($500): Ceramics artists Basher and Roula Jarjour of Shippensburg, Pennsylvania
- Award of Excellence ($500): Digital artist LJ Eldolon of Johns Island, South Carolina
Artipshere also announced the 2026 winners of the Artists of the Upstate Juried Exhibition, sponsored by TOWN Magazine and TD Bank, and funded in part by Metropolitan Arts Council. The exhibition featured local Upstate artists located within a 35-mile radius of Greenville. This year’s winners include:
- Best in Show ($1,000): Hamed Mahmoodi
- Second Place ($750): Martha McLeod
- Third Place ($500): Barbara Baum
- Award of Excellence ($250): Jose Perez
Society Sandwich Bar & Social Club was also selected as the Best in Show for Artisphere’s Hughes Investments Culinary Arts Café. The local restaurant received a $500 cash award from the festival.
“Artisphere remains one of the most competitive fine arts festivals in the country, with artists presenting exceptional work across every medium,” said Kerry Murphy, president and CEO of Artisphere. “This year’s selections beautifully reflected both the depth of talent in the show and the creative spirit of our community, with awards spanning photography, painting, fiber, ceramics, jewelry, wood and digital art.”
Artisphere, presented by Prisma Health, will return in May 2027. For more information, visit artisphere.org.
