Presentation & Promotion and Skills & Arts Development Rounds
Closing Dates: 3 and 5 of August 2009

CHAIR’S REPORT

Over four days from 3-6 November the Board reviewed 422 Skills & Arts Development applications and 65 for Presentation and Promotion, distributing approximately $1,691,000 to successful applicants. The Board also deliberated on the presentation of the Australian Emeritus Medal and Emeritus Award, acknowledging the extraordinary contributions to Australian contemporary art. The announcement will be made in December.

Due to a change in the Board membership, the unavailability of one Board member and a shift in expertise across the panel, we sought advice from freelance curator Vivonne Thwaites, James Newitt an academic and visual artists from Tasmania and Sebastian Di Mauro, an academic and visual artists from Queensland, who were invited as Peers. The Board was very grateful to have their knowledge and insight for the assessment of all categories.

All applications were assessed according to the published assessment criteria rather than media-based or state-by-state quotas. 

The Board maintains 10 overseas studios as an offshore base for Australian artists wishing to work overseas for 3, 6 or 12 months. The opportunity to work for three months in Barcelona or in New York at the Greene Street Studio, for example, attracted 57 applications to each location. For the first time the Visual Arts Board offered studio residencies in Helsinki and Liverpool.

Overseas studios not only provide ‘time out’ from regular routines and work commitments, but they offer the chance to experience different working environments, meet new colleagues, establish networks and engage with contemporary visual arts practice in cities with a critical mass of practitioners much greater than Australia. As the acquittal reports attest these can be life-changing experiences and the opportunities for professional development and career advancement a residency provides have a very long wick that keeps burning long after their return.

Within the Presentation and Promotion category the 65 applications detailed an extraordinary range of exhibitions and events planned for the coming year. Opportunities for Australian artists to show their work internationally are increasing and this has led to an increase in applications to show Australian artists overseas. The Board discussed many innovative and exciting exhibition proposals noting many inventive approaches to the presentation of the work of emerging artists and those with established reputations. As usual there were many more excellent applications than could be supported even though we were able to fund 44% of those submitted.

Overall, the Board noted their disappointment at receiving so few craft applications and would like to encourage a greater response from craft practitioners in the future.

The Board has also requested that applicants to the Skills and Arts Development category address the professional development outcomes in their applications.

In preparing support material the Board has requested that images or ‘show reels’ focus on the work that is produced by artists, it is not an opportunity to provide a commentary on your work. Moreover, applicants working with moving image are advised to submit video of their work rather than still images that show installation shots or single frames.

Presentations to the Board by four key national organisations and networks was appreciated and provided valuable insight into important sector issues.

I would like to thank the members of the Visual Arts Board Steven Alderton, Dr. Lyndal Jones, Richard Whiteley and Dr. Dennis del Favero for their diligence, professionalism and great good humour. With a range of professional expertise across many fields their assessments represented a remarkable example of consistency and objectivity in decision-making. Unfortunately Michael Zavros was unable to attend the meeting.  

On behalf of the Board I would also like to thank the staff of the Visual Arts Board for their extraordinary efforts in ensuring that the process ran smoothly and for the preparation of the visual material that made the initial on-line assessment so efficient. It was, once again, an outstanding effort from all involved.

Prof Ted Snell
Chair, Visual Arts Board
24 November 2009

Successful Applicants:

PRESENTATION AND PROMOTION

24HR Art: Northern Territory Centre for Contemporary Art, NT $46,210.00
Present a collaborative exhibition of Filipino & Australian artists in Manila in 2010

Adelaide Festival Corporation, SA $50,000.00
Present Artists' Week 2010: Art in the Global Present, a four day international symposium
     
Adelaide Film Festival, SA $14,250.00
Present Indigenous new media artworks during the Adelaide Film Festival 2011

Asian Australian Artists Association Inc - Gallery 4A, NSW $83,250.00
Present Lost Wor(l)ds an exhibition/publication project featuring  Australian & Asia-Pacific artists

Auckland City Council, Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tamaki, NZ $31,517.00
Present Australian Artists and Speakers at the 4th Auckland Triennial 2010

Australian Experimental Art Foundation Incorporated, SA $42,760.00
Present '(to) give time to time' a three part project examining ephemeral art practices

Canberra Glassworks Limited, ACT $6,300.00
Present an exhibition of site specific installations at the Canberra Glassworks heritage building
     
Carclew Youth Arts Centre, SA $22,478.00
Present a series of projects focusing on artwork in the public arena

Contemporary Art Services Tasmania, TAS $48,294.00
Present new work by Heather & Ivan Morison developed in collaboration with Australian artists

Craftsouth: Centre for Contemporary Craft & Design, SA $28,530.00
Present an exhibition of work developed in response to & interpretation of Gothic literature

dLux media arts Inc, NSW $42,450.00
Present a national Media Arts exhibition touring project

Electrofringe Ltd, NSW $40,000.00
Present Electrofringe 2010 an international festival of experimental electronic arts & culture

FotoFreo, WA $44,500.00
Present FotoFreo 2010 a biennial international photography festival held in Fremantle, WA
     
Gertrude Street Artists Spaces (Gertrude Contemporary Art Spaces), VIC $14,000.00
Present a reciprocal exhibition exchange between Australian & Italian artists

Jewellers and Metalsmiths Group of Australia, WA $17,605.00
 Present the 14th National JMGA Conference, Perth 2010

Linden St Kilda Centre for Contemporary Art, VIC $25,000.00
Present the Politics of Art (working title) exhibition

Monash University, Faculty of Art and Design, VIC $19,000.00
Present an exhibition of historical and contemporary video and performance works

Monash University Museum of Art, MUMA, VIC $28,000.00
Present a commission by Hany Armanious as the inaugural solo exhibition for MUMA's new museum

Multimedia Art Asia Pacific Inc, MAAP, QLD $95,000.00
Present "Light from Light" MAAP's 2010 contemporary media art exhibition

Next Wave Festival Inc, VIC $30,000.00
Present curated projects of new, ephemeral, site specific public art in the Next Wave Festival 2010

Object: Australian Centre for Craft and Design, NSW $48,000.00
Present a national audio design tour in urban environments

Parramatta Artists Studios t/u Parramatta City Council, NSW $21,000.00
Present the Western Sydney Critical Arts Writers Program Series

Penrith Performing and Visual Arts Ltd, NSW $24,000.00
Present Disorder an exhibition of Australian and international subculture and DIY artists

Performance Space, NSW $40,000.00
Present Nightshifters a commissioned site based video event involving eight Australian artists

Platform Artists Group Inc, VIC $29,500.00
Present more than 50 public exhibition projects throughout 2010

Un Projects Inc (t/a Un Magazine), VIC $15,000.00
Publish issue 4.1 of the independent art journal un Magazine

Museums and Galleries Foundation of NSW, NSW $13,343.00
Present Excessor a touring exhibition of contemporary Australian jewellery

West Space, VIC $35,000.00
Present the West Space After Hours & Project Space projects in 2010

SKILLS AND ARTS DEVELOPMENT GENERAL

Bell, Richard, QLD $50,000.00
Undertake a ten-month fellowship and major exhibition project at Location One, New York
     
Britton, Helen, OS $20,000.00
Travel to Belgium to work with publishing company, New Goff to produce a high- quality catalogue

Burrows, David, VIC $10,000.00
Present a solo exhibition of audio-visual installations and drawings

Castagnini, Laura, VIC $6,000.00
Complete internship with curator of Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art, Brooklyn Museum
     
Cruickshank, Alan, SA $19,250.00
Undertake a research residency with Osage Art Foundation in Hong Kong, Beijing, Shanghai & Singapore
     
Egerton-Warburton, George, WA $19,000.00
Develop a body of work and a performance piece for Next Wave Festival, 2010

Feary, Mark, VIC $11,000.00
Research and develop networks within Korea, Japan and China for future curatorial projects

John von Sturmer & Slawek Janicki, NSW $39,800.00
Undertake workshops and residencies to develop new performance work

Keehan, Reuben, NSW $20,040.00
Undertake a 12 week curatorial residency at the Yokohama Museum of Art, Japan

Lee, Fiona, TAS $19,846.00
Undertake residencies in the United Kingdom

Mangos, Simone, OS $35,000.00
Research and develop a series of sculptural works

Mathews, Hannah, VIC $16,559.00
Undertake a 3 month curatorial residency with the ISCP in New York and exhibition research in Europe
     
Roet, Lisa, VIC $9,000.00
Undertake a six month self-organised residency at the Melbourne Museum

Srivilasa, Vipoo, VIC $23,610.00
Undertake research and skill development in China and Europe

Strati, Susanna, NSW $19,100.00
Travel to Southern and Central Italy to research and document funeral practices

Terrill, Simon, VIC $6,222.00
Undertake a residency and exhibition at Balfron Tower, London

The New Feminism Project, VIC $10,000.00
Develop a curatorial project which will generate a new dialogue on feminism

You Are Here, NSW $26,888.00
Undertake a two month self-organised residency in Chicago and New York

SKILLS AND ARTS DEVELOPMENT BARCELONA STUDIO

Fragar, Julie, QLD $10,000.00
Keiso, Fassih, VIC $10,000.00
Siri Hayes and Paul Wood, VIC $10,000.00
The Telepathy Project, VIC $10,000.00

SKILLS AND ARTS DEVELOPMENT GREENE STREET STUDIO, NEW YORK

Bell, Catherine, VIC $10,000.00
Gill, Simryn, NSW $10,000.00
Ou, Selina, VIC $10,000.00
Thompson, Christian, OS $10,000.00

SKILLS AND ARTS DEVELOPMENT ISCP STUDIO, NEW YORK

Drew, Marian, QLD $20,000.00
Yamani, Jamil, NSW $20,000.00

SKILLS AND ARTS DEVELOPMENT LONDON STUDIO

Knight, Paul, OS $10,000.00
Polo, Tommaso, NSW $10,000.00
Pynor, Helen, NSW $10,000.00
West, Hayley, NT $10,000.00

SKILLS AND ARTS DEVELOPMENT HELSINKI STUDIO

Groves, Helga, VIC $10,000.00
Haggblom, Kristian, VIC $10,000.00
Pahoki, Sanja, VIC $10,000.00
Selenitch, Nicholas, VIC $10,000.00

SKILLS AND ARTS DEVELOPMENT KUNSTLERHAUS (BERLIN) STUDIO

TBC $35,000.00

SKILLS AND ARTS DEVELOPMENT LIVERPOOL STUDIO

Bourne, Catherine, VIC $10,000.00
Devlin, Nick VIC $10,000.00
Morgan, Trevor, OS $10,000.00
Wilson, Anne, VIC $10,000.00

SKILLS AND ARTS DEVELOPMENT PARIS CITE STUDIO

Davies, Julie, VIC $10,000.00
Glaister, Kelley, VIC $10,000.00

SKILLS AND ARTS DEVELOPMENT ROME STUDIO

Kjar, Barbara, TAS $10,000.00
Miron, Annee, VIC $10,000.00
Sims, Martin, NSW $10,000.00
Sturgess, Helen, NSW $10,000.00

SKILLS AND ARTS DEVELOPMENT TOKYO STUDIO

Brophy, Philip, VIC $10,000.00
Hanssen Piggot, Gwyn, QLD $10,000.00
Sterling, Tim, VIC $10,000.00
Watson, Jennifer, QLD $10,000.00

VAB November Assessment Meeting Decision Statistics

Total Grants: 79
Total Amount Approved:  $1,691,302.00

Board Members Present:

Prof. Ted Snell (Chair), WA
Steven Alderton, NSW
Dr Dennis Del Favero, NSW
Dr Lyndal Jones, VIC
Richard Whiteley, ACT
Apologies: Michael Zavros, QLD

Peers Present:

James Newitt, TAS
Vivonne Thwaites, SA
Sebastian Di Mauro, QLD

Australia Council Staff:

Kon Gouriotis, Director
Kate Major, Program Manager
Romany Petersen, Program Officer
Robyn Chiles, Program Officer
Jane Gillespie, Program Officer
Emma Blong, Program Officer
Vanessa Lloyd, Section Coordinator
Jenny Hsueh, Administration Officer