Creative Australia Fellowship Program - Young & emerging artists

A grant for $60,000 ($30,000 per annum over 2 years)

– Applications for this grant close 31 January 2012
– Decisions will be advised in May 2012
– Funded fellowships can start in May 2012

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These Fellowships are a major new initiative to support the professional development of outstanding artists working across the sector and across Australia. Over  five years between 2011/12 to 2015/16, the Australia Council will award 10 fellowships for established artists (each valued at $100,000) and 13 fellowships for early career artists (each valued at $60,000).  These new Australia Council Creative Australia Fellowships will provide financial support for artists across all artforms to undertake a program of creative or professional development.

Early career artists working in visual or media arts, community arts and cultural development, performance, writing or music with a track record of significant achievement are invited to submit a proposal for this Australia Council Creative Australia Fellowship.  

These fellowships will be awarded to:

• Enable and further the creative or professional development of outstanding early career artists by supporting a 2-year program of creative work or professional development
• Assist early career artists to use and develop innovative practices when creating new work, particularly interdisciplinary approaches
• Encourage early career artists to connect with and benefit from established artists in networking and/or mentoring arrangements.

Three Creative Australia Fellowships for early career artists will be awarded each year from 2012-2015 and one in 2016.

The Australia Council encourages artists from Indigenous backgrounds and from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds to submit proposals. Proposals are also encouraged from artists with disabilities and from artists living and working in regional Australia.

Creative Australia Fellowship Program - Young & emerging artists

A grant for $60,000 ($30,000 per annum over 2 years)

– Applications for this grant close 31 January 2012
– Decisions will be advised in May 2012
– Funded fellowships can start in May 2012

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Eligibility

This category is open to individual artists only. To be eligible, you must meet the general eligibility requirements and any specific eligibility requirements provided for specific grant.

Additonal to the general eligibility requirements, you must meet the following specific eligibility requirements:

• if you received a Fellowship from any board after 1995, you are not eligible to apply
• proposals are not accepted from people currently undertaking undergraduate or post-graduate studies.
  

The Australia Council encourages artists from Indigenous backgrounds and from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds to submit proposals. Proposals are also encouraged from artists with disabilities and from artists living and working in regional Australia.

Selection criteria

Fellowships are awarded for proposals that best demonstrate:

• calibre of the artist undertaking the fellowship
• a track record of significant achievement
• potential for interdisciplinary approaches in the creation of work

Selection process

Creative Australia Fellowship applications are assessed and awarded by the Australia Council governing board. A committee of Australia Council staff will accept and read the Fellowship applications and make recommendations to the board based on the selection criteria. Australia Council members will award the fellowships based on these staff recommendations and/or based on their own assessment of the proposals.

For more information on the assessment process, please see the page on Assessment of applications in the Information for applicants section.

 

Creative Australia Fellowship Program - Young & emerging artists

A grant for $60,000 ($30,000 per annum over 2 years)

– Applications for this grant close 31 January 2012
– Decisions will be advised in May 2012
– Funded fellowships can start in May 2012

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How to apply

You are encouraged to apply online for this category. To begin an online application, use the 'Apply online' button in the right-hand column. Please select 'Arts Funding Division' when prompted to choose a board for your Fellowship application.

Young and emerging or early career artists applying for these fellowships are required to complete the following in our online system about their proposal:

1. One A4 page overview covering who you are, your artform practice and your significant artistic milestones to date, noting any specific awards or recognition of outstanding achievement. Please include a brief statement addressing why you are applying as an early career artist.
2. One A4 page outline of the 2-year program you propose to undertake with this fellowship, including whether you plan to work with a mentor(s) and details of the outcomes and benefits this fellowship will bring to your practice
3. One A4 page providing further CV or bio detail over that provide in response to question 1 above.

 

For other ways to apply, please see the information on making an application in the Funding Guide for 2012.

 

Supporting materials

• Please include within your proposal no more than 3 URLs that represent the artistic quality and merit of the applicant's previous arts projects

We recommend you also read the FAQs for supporting materials submitted with your application.

 

Application checklist

We encourage you to use this handy checklist to help them prepare and submit their application. You should:

1. read the Funding Guide for 2012, in particular the general eligibility requirements, the information on making an application and the information on how your application will be assessed;
2. read all of the information provided for this grant (across all the tabs above);
3. get in contact with the grant contact person to discuss your application;
4. prepare you application, being mindful that you address all of the eligibility and selection criteria for this grant; and
5. submit your application form online using the 'Apply online' button in the right-hand column.

Creative Australia Fellowship Program - Young & emerging artists

A grant for $60,000 ($30,000 per annum over 2 years)

– Applications for this grant close 31 January 2012
– Decisions will be advised in May 2012
– Funded fellowships can start in May 2012

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General FAQs

Specific frequently asked questions (FAQs) relating to this grant are listed below. Please regularly check for updates as new questions may be published during the grant round. We recommend you also read the general FAQs for all grants and the FAQs for supporting materials submitted with your application.

 

Creative Fellowships FAQs

Should I apply?

There are only a limited number of Fellowships available each year so we are anticipating the competition will be high.

If you have recently graduated, have limited experience as an artist, or have only produced work as part of a university degree or in a non-professional setting your proposal will not be competitive for these fellowship grants. We recommend you consider applying for an Artstart grant rather than this fellowship. Your proposal will only be competitive if you can demonstrate you are a professional practising artist whose work has had a professional outcome.

You are a contender as an established artist if you can demonstrate at least 10 years of professional practice. While this need not be 10 consecutive years of practice, there will be key achievements that will support your claim such as a number of books/plays published, professional performing arts productions, exhibitions, or musical works professionally recorded and produced

You are a contender as an early career artist if you have some achievements under your belt as a professional. This means you can highlight some key achievements that demonstrate a professional outcome for your art. For example, this could be having a book or play published, at least one professional performing arts production, exhibition, or a musical work professionally performed, recorded and produced.

You will need to make a case in your proposal as to why you believe you are either an ‘established’ or an ‘early career’ artist. This includes outlining as part of your application some key career milestones that demonstrate your case.

How many fellowships are available each year of the initiative?

We will offer 2 fellowships for established artists and 3 fellowships for early career artists each year.

Who can I talk to about my proposal?

You can call any artform section of the Australia Council for advice on submitting an application. We suggest you call the area that is most aligned to your current practice – Theatre, Music, Dance, Literature, Visual Arts, Community Partnerships, Inter-Arts or Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Arts.

What can I apply for?

Proposals are assessed on the basis of the calibre of the artist applying, the track record of achievement and the potential for interdisciplinary approaches in the creation of new work. You can apply for a broad range of activities within this scope; professional development, research or creative development or creation of new work, are all suitable fellowship activities.

When can my fellowship start?

Decisions are advised in April 2012 so your fellowship should not begin before 1 May 2012. For established artists Fellowships you must propose activities over a 12-month period and for early career Fellowships you must propose activities over a 24-month period.

What do you mean by inter-disciplinary approaches in the creation of new work?

The Australia Council is encouraging proposals from artists who are working in ways that incorporate more than one discipline into their artistic practice. Our artform boards already offer fellowships for artists working within theatre, dance, visual arts, literature and music. We were interested in providing opportunities for artists exploring practices that don’t necessarily fall within single artform areas.

Do I need to be an inter-disciplinary artist to apply?

No, artists from any artform can apply. However we are looking for artists who are interested in taking an approach to the fellowship that explores interdisciplinary process in the creation of new work. We don’t prescribe what that might look like. We are seeking your interpretation of what’s an appropriate interdisciplinary approach for your practice. Be as creative and innovative as you can in how you might apply interdisciplinary aspects to your work.

What support material do I need to supply with my application?

Please provide no more than 3 URLs that provide links to previous works. These can be for moving image works, still images, text or any other form of support material that best supports your proposal.

Because of the high volume of proposals be sure to only select an excerpt that best demonstrates your past work – it is unlikely that assessors will view a full length video of a performance, listen to a 45-minute composition, or read an entire book.

If you don’t have your own website there are many free internet services for uploading material.  Some popular sites include YouTube and Vimeo for moving images, Soundcloud for music and sound, Flickr, photobucket & Picasaweb for moving and still images and images, or Dropbox or Box.net for text for still images, publications and text. It is important to note that we will not be downloading this support material for distribution but rather providing our assessors with links to view this material online. Please make sure your support material is viewable when the URL link is clicked.

How do I apply?

The Australia Council accepts applications online. This is the easiest way to submit your proposal. Just click on the link to the right of this page. If you cannot make an application online we will in rare circumstances accept hard copy applications – please contact us to discuss your needs.

We have tried to make the application process as simple as possible. You’ll need to provide us with two pages of information about your career to date and what you propose to do during the Fellowship period.

How are the Creative Australia Fellowships assessed?

Creative Australia Fellowship applications are assessed and awarded by the Australia Council governing board. A committee of Australia Council staff will accept and read the Fellowship applications and make recommendations to the board. Australia Council members will award the fellowships based on these staff recommendations and/or based on their own assessment of the proposals.