SCE EmblemThe Southern Collective Experience is an organization of and for artists founded in 2010 by poet Clifford Brooks. Members are men and women who have achieved a certain level of mastery and accomplishment in their work and who see a need for ongoing professional support among creative peers.

The Collective encourages mutual inspiration and professional growth in a family-like environment, across the mediums of visual art, music, poetry, and prose. Members contribute their different gifts and talents to advance the organization’s activities, which include gatherings, readings, exhibitions, performances, publishing, and promotional opportunities through social media and networking. The arts journal The Blue Mountain Review and a radio show, Dante’s Old South, are produced under the Collective’s auspices.

Innovation with an awareness of their arts’ deep roots is a pursuit shared by Collective members. Thus “collective experience” has both existential and mythic connotations. And although we were birthed in the diverse climes of Georgia, the designation “Southern” isn’t meant to exclude contributors from other regions. (Everyone is south of somewhere.) Rather, it highlights iconic, living Southern ethics—welcoming guests, relaxing with loved ones, treating all with integrity and honor. Creators and creative work that share these ideas are welcomed and celebrated regardless of geography.

Interested in becoming a potential member of our organization?

THE SOUTHERN COLLECTIVE EXPERIENCE APPLICATION