Southern Prize Spotlight: Coulter Fussell of Mississippi

Georgia-born, Mississippi-based artist Coulter Fussell. — Georgia-born, Mississippi-based artist Coulter Fussell came in second place in the new Southern Prize competition.

Coulter Fussell was the runner-up for the new Southern Prize, given by the Atlanta-based organization South Arts. In addition to the $5,000 she received as her state finalist, she won $10,000 for placing second in the competition. Fussell is a textile artist and painter living and working in the town of Water Valley, in northern Mississippi. Coulter learned quilt-making from her mother, a master quilter, who encouraged her to develop her own style that deviated from traditional methods and patterns.

Born and raised in Columbus, Georgia, she earned her BFA from the University of Mississippi in 2000 and, as she says, “naturally went on to be a diner waitress for the next seven years.” She opened Yalo Studio in 2010 and, later, co-founded YaloRUN Textiles, an experimental textile workshop and fabric store with Susan Cianciolo and Kiva Motnyk.

Coulter’s work has been featured Artforum, the New York Times and ART PAPERS, among others.