Program
Cultural Trust
The Ian Potter Cultural Trust seeks to encourage the diversity and excellence of emerging artists in Australia. The Trust makes grants of up $7,000 to early career artists practising in a wide range of disciplines within the arts, including the performing and visual arts, crafts, music, the media, literature, Indigenous art, design, community arts and other areas.
See below for some of our Previous Grants and for a listing of recent grants click on the following link.
Please read the following sections prior to printing the form.
Case study 1
Ms Belinda Fox
Printmaker
$2,000 awarded 2006
$2,400 awarded 2004
"I cannot thank The Ian Potter Cultural Trust enough for allowing me the opportunity to learn from such skilled printers in the USA and Singapore, and to travel to such a magnificent and endlessly inspiring country as Tibet. The skills and experienced gained will no doubt benefit me for years to come."
In 2006 Belinda was awarded $2,000 to travel to Tibet and to Singapore to undertake a residency as a guest artist and printer at the Singapore Tyler Print Institute (SITI).
Belinda says of her awards from the Trust:
"The Ian Potter Cultural Trust grants of 2004 and 2006 paved the way for me to gain invaluable skills and opportunities overseas that have had a significant impact on my art career to date. After the success of my 2004 (grant assisted) trip to the USA, working with internationally acclaimed Crown Point Press, an invitation was extended to me to come and work at the Singapore Tyler Print Institute. This was a fantastic opportunity, and with the further support of The Ian Potter Cultural Trust I was able to accept this great offer and travelled to Singapore in 2006, and also to Tibet, a place of significant interest to my art practice. The 2006 project was a life changing experience and has had great follow on since my return."
New techniques and skills learnt during her time at the Singapore Tyler Institute have given Belinda a new way to interpret and express her ideas. She had an opportunity to work on the largest plates she has ever printed or etched on (2.5 metres long), and was given an opportunity to share her skills and knowledge with the team at SITI.
"This year a solo show in Sydney was produced that drew directly from my trip to Tibet, and from the studies made in Singapore I have been invited to undertake an artist in residency at the Fremantle Art Centre in November this year."
More details on Belinda’s work can be found on her website www.belindafox.com.au
Case Study 2
Mr David Burrows
Audio-Visual Artist
$5,000 awarded 2005
"…my connections to Australian cultural producers are current and growing in response to my experiences in France over the last 2 years. My hope and intention is to continue nurturing these direct and indirect connections, with firm belief in the importance of wide and diverse networks as a resource to be both drawn from and added to."
Mr. David Burrows was awarded a grant of $5,000 for the second year of his studies in audio-visual media at Le Fresnoy National Studio of Contemporary Arts, France.
David, who studied at RMIT in Melbourne, wanted to establish an Australian presence at Le Fresnoy, and through that establish exchanges between Australian and international organisations. He wanted to be exposed to the unique pedagogical structure and methodology used at the school.
David is the first Australian to be awarded the Diplômés du Fresnoy avec les Félicitations du jury à l’unanimité.
During his studies at Le Fresnoy David wrote and directed his first film, titled morning/evening/morning, which has since screened at several European film festivals. David created and exhibited an audio-visual interactive installation titled Lucent Landscapes, for which he was awarded the Diploma with distinction. Lucent Landscapes has been accepted for three group exhibitions in France. He describes the work as "a poetic dramaturgy offered to the patient observer who is willing to sit with the work for a passage of time."
Case Study 3
Ms Ruby Hamad
Film maker
$5,000 awarded 2006
"The greatest benefit that I have gained from the experience of making this film is the same lesson that Jasmine learns in the film: that human suffering comes in many forms and that her own pain is not something that she should be ashamed of or deny."
Ms Ruby Hamad was awarded a grant of $5,000 to assist with the making of her graduation film for her Bachelor of Arts in Film and Television at the Victorian College of the Arts (VCA). Originally titled Worth but subsequently renamed Falling, the film tells the story of Jasmine, an artist of Lebanese parentage. The film is set in a gallery at the opening night of an exhibition of Jasmine’s paintings, which are political and graphic pieces depicting the horrors of war and the struggle for assimilation and acceptance of her as an artist. However one piece depicts a tender moment between two lovers. The film tells the story of Jasmine’s coming to terms with letting go of the past and the expectations of others.
Falling required an entire art exhibition to be designed and curated. After finding it difficult to secure a gallery in which to shoot the film, Ruby decided to build a set in the studio at the VCA. Collaborating with other artists was essential in completing the film, and working closely with the Cinematographer and the Production Designer enabled Ruby’s vision to be realised. She hopes to collaborate with them again in the future. The film has recently screened at Palm Springs International Festival of Short Films and the Montreal World Film Festival, and was selected as a finalist in the Australian Teachers of Media (ATOM) Awards (best live action tertiary section) held in October 2007. It was also selected as a semi finalist at the Angelus Student Film Festival in Los Angeles, USA, with finalists announced in September.
Case Study 4
Ms Jennifer Pfeiffer
Puppeteer and Visual Theatre-Maker
$2,420 awarded 2007
"In Prague, I recognised and took opportunities to advocate and work as a facilitator for artists in whom I saw excellence, in technique and execution. I view the possibility of enabling access to their work as being of great benefit to the Australian public and artistic community as formative experiences."
Ms Jennifer Pfeiffer was awarded a grant of $2,420 to enable her to participate in the Prague Quadrennial, a festival for designers of theatre, architects and interior designers; the Materinka Puppet Festival; and the 2007 Union Internationale de la Marionette (UNIMA) Executive Meeting.
Jennifer is a graduate of The University of Melbourne and Swinburne University of Technology. She is a puppeteer and visual theatre-maker. She has been a volunteer for the UNIMA Executive Board for a number of years, and her representation ensures that Australia participates in activities in the Asia-Pacific region.
Her attendance at the Quadrennial was an opportunity for Jennifer to learn about current practices in design, and to enhance her artistic practice and work as a tertiary educator. Participation in the Executive Meeting of UNIMA was an opportunity to contribute to the planning of the 2008 Congress to be held in Perth.
"The Prague Quadrennial was a fantastic opportunity to measure myself. I participated in, and observed, an international collaboration, an area that I am especially interested in. It gave me the opportunity to attend one of the largest international design events in the world. As an exposition, it was an enormous design market that ranged in variety from very organic concepts and materials to fantastically high tech and sophisticated installations."
Case Study 5
Ms Amy Ellks
Flautist
$3,400 awarded 2006
"There seemed to be music and art everywhere, and, as I wallowed in the soulful tunes of a jazz saxophonist in Central Park, I felt that I would surely learn as much from being surrounded by art and music as by my scheduled lessons."
Ms Amy Ellks was awarded $3,400 to undertake two months of private flute lessons with teachers in the USA, and in particular New York City.
Amy is a graduate of the Elder Conservatorium of Music, University of South Australia. Teachers such as Tadeu Coehlo taught Amy breathing and articulation techniques and shared tips such as "low notes are like difficult people, you need to approach them carefully".
She undertook lessons with Thomas Robertello at Indiana University and Keith Underwood at Mannes College. Amy had the opportunity to audition for Mannes College in New York City, and has been accepted to study for a Master of Music. She will commence her studies in the 2007/2008 academic year.
"The musical nature of my trip allowed me to draw comparisons between our two countries and to get an idea of how art and music play a part in both or our cultures. I believe this inter-cultural investigation to be essential to developing a thriving classical music scene in Australia."
Case Study 6
Mr Marcus Dillon
Glass Artist
$2,500 awarded 2006
"Networking and forming relationships with fellow practitioners, collectors and galleries on an international level was a huge benefit."
Mr Marcus Dillon was awarded $2,500 in March 2006 to undertake a residency at Sculpture Object and Functional Art (SOFA) in Chicago and to exhibit work.
Marcus is a graduate of Monash University. In his request to the Trust he said, "I not only believe that embarking on such a journey will be fundamental to my artistic and personal development, but will be instrumental in fostering friendships and alliances that are vital for the continuation and advancement of my career."
As well as exhibiting at SOFA in Chicago, he attended a series of artists’ forums which provided a valuable insight into current practices and approaches to working with glass in America. As well as continuing to produce his own work, he is now employed at Sydney College of the Arts as a Studio Technical Supervisor in the Glass Department.
Case Study 7
Ms Alison Bell
Actor
$6,000 awarded 2007
'Sleeping Beauty' Photographer Lisa Tomasetti
Photograph courtesy of Malthouse Theatre
"The theatre, the music, the galleries, the forums and discussions; all were inspiring, but it was my time with teachers Rowena Balos, Richard Armstrong and Jonathan Hart that made my trip to the USA life-changing. All three, but particularly the singing tuition of Armstrong and Hart, exposed me to vocal techniques that exploded my expectations of the voice."
Ms Alison Bell was awarded a grant of $6,000 to undertake voice training with Rowena Balos in Los Angeles, classes at HB Studio in New York, and private singing lessons with Richard Armstrong and Jonathan Hart.
Alison, a graduate of the Victorian College of the Arts, stated her objectives in undertaking this course of study in the USA were to have the opportunity to "experience and/or witness the varied techniques of these chosen teachers in the hope of furthering my understanding of how the voice works, the potential of vocal expression, the key to releasing and expanding vocal possibility. This, in turn, would enhance my ability to achieve true and creative vocal characterisation in future acting work".
Alison returned to Australia having met her objectives and feeling "creatively reinvigorated". Her time in New York provided an opportunity to study voice and accent, and an opportunity to experience the diversity of art, theatre, music and forums. As a result of her studies, Alison says she has greater vocal freedom and possibility, and understanding of breath and internal connection in voice to song and interpretation.
Since her return Alison has had opportunities to put her training into practice, performing the demanding role of Sleeping Beauty in a new production of ‘Sleeping Beauty’ for Malthouse Theatre and in the role of Honey in ‘Who’s Afraid of Virginia Wolf?’ for Melbourne Theatre Company. Alison says her ability to undertake these roles was greatly enhanced by her training.
Of her time in the USA, Alison
says
"Extraordinary inspiration and
reinvigoration!"
