ArtFields, the South’s largest and most engaging art competition and festival, is pleased to announce the accepted artists for the 2016 event.

Lynn Long, a local nature and landscape photographer and owner of Long Time Photography, has been accepted into the competition for this year. ArtFields will take place April 22-30 in downtown Lake City, South Carolina.

Selected by a jury of visual arts professionals, the accepted artists will exhibit nearly 400 works of art, representing the talent across the 12 Southeastern states – Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia. These emerging and established artists will compete for their chance at a share of $110,000 in cash prizes, awarded based on visitor input and a panel of acclaimed judges and educators.

“I was extremely impressed with the high quality of the submitted works,” said 2016 Review Panelist and University of South Carolina Art History Professor Bradford Collins, PhD. “The artwork is a wonderful mix of the pleasing and the provocative.”

Prizes to be awarded include the Top Prize ($50,000), Juried Panel Prize ($25,000), People’s Choice two-dimensional ($12,500), People’s Choice three-dimensional ($12,500) and 10 Merit Awards ($1,000 each).

“ArtFields started in 2013 with a simple goal: to honor the artists of the Southeast with a week’s worth of celebration and competition in the heart of a traditional, Southern town,” said Ashley Jacobs, Executive Director, Lake City Creative Alliance. “Drawing more than 20,000 attendees each year, the 2016 event will offer more than 400 pieces of world-class, southern art, nationally acclaimed entertainers including NBC’s “America’s Got Talent” act Mountain Faith Band, award-winning chefs such as FOX’s “Hell’s Kitchen” winner and Food and Wine featured Chef Tasha Mac, children’s activities, workshops and more.”

Jacobs continued, “There’s a reason CNN’s ’50 States, 50 Spots’ named ArtFields ‘South Carolina’s Top Spot to See’ in 2014.” To learn more about ArtFields 2016, visit www.artfieldssc.org.