The Australia Council for the Arts has announced the recipients of the 2017 Australia Council Fellowships.
The highly sought after Fellowships, each worth $80,000 over two years, will support eight outstanding artists across a range of art forms.
Contemporary choreographer Stephanie Lake is the recipient of the Fellowship for Dance, which will support the development of a large scale work involving more than 50 performers.
“This fellowship really allows me to keep going, and to be even more ambitious in what I can achieve,” she said.
Australia Council Fellowships are offered once a year, with applications assessed and awarded by a peer panel made up of experts in the relevant art forms.
Paul Jackson’s Fellowship for Theatre will allow him to expand his practice as a multi-award winning lighting designer.
“This really is a key program for providing support and encouragement for mid-career and established artists,” he said.
“It enables you to do those things that simply aren’t possible when you’re going from job to job trying to make a living.”
The recipient of the Community Arts and Cultural Development Fellowship, Simon Spain, said the Fellowship would support him to continue creating and connecting communities of young people through the arts.
“It will allow me to better advocate for arts and artists in Tasmania and, importantly, to give more of my time to that work,” he said.
For composer Andrée Greenwell, the Music Fellowship will allow her to pursue a series of ambitious projects, including the development of a new work for Opera Queensland.
“I’m honoured and very excited to be undertaking collaborations with leading Australian artists and organisations through this award,” she said.
Arnold Zable’s Fellowship for Literature follows more than three decades of storytelling and literary achievements.
“I think it’s important for our culture. To have an Australia Council, and to have support for the arts in this form is an acknowledgment that the arts matter,” he said.
This year’s eight recipients are:
- Hetti Perkins (NSW) – Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Arts
- Stephanie Lake (VIC) – Dance
- Simon Spain (TAS) – Community Arts and Cultural Development
- David Haines (NSW) – Visual Arts
- Paul Jackson (VIC) – Theatre
- Willoh S. Weiland (TAS) – Emerging and Experimental
- Arnold Zable (VIC) – Literature
- Andrée Greenwell (NSW)- Music
Applications for the 2018 Fellowships are now open until June 5th 2018. More information can be found here.