Into The Light 2023 Call Out

Into The Light tranche 5, 2023 expressions of interest are now open!

We are on the look out for early stage and under-employed art historians, curators, researchers to join us in bringing to life Into The Light 2023.

Into the Light is a national research project aimed at identifying and recovering Australia’s lost women artists working professionally between 1870–1960, in turn bringing to light generations of professional women artists who have been written out of the historical narratives of Australia’s art history.

This year’s project will take place from September 2024 – March 2025.

Each selected researcher/writer will be mentored by Dr Juliette Peers and Sheila board member John Cruthers and will produce an essay on the allocated artist and artwork.

Please note, the work is unpaid but the copyright of the essay is owned by the writer and licenced to Sheila for use in the publication. 

A publication based on this research is released annually on Sheila’s website. View the latest catalogue, Into The Light Tranche 3, 2021 here.

Find out about the project overview and criteria below.

Image: Annie E. Potter, Australian bush property (detail), c 1890s, oil on canvas, 41.5 x 24 cm. Into the Light Collection, Sheila Foundation

Have you completed your postgrad studies in art history/curatorial studies/museum studies, or an allied field from a recognised Australian institution?

Do you have an interest in biographically-based art history writing and have examples of independently published texts?

If you feel like the above describes you or someone you know, please email your EOI to admin@sheila.org.au.

Each EOI should be accompanied by a CV, examples of published writing and the names and contact details of two referees by Wednesday 24 July 2024.

Image: Erica McGilchrist, Specialist with hobby 1962, oil and collage on paper on hardboard, 92 x 129 cm. Into the Light Collection, Sheila Foundation.

Read more

What’s it like for a young woman artist trying to make her way in the artworld of today? Bella Chidlow is a recent art school graduate interning with the SHEILA Foundation. Here

“The Australian slang term ‘sheila’, a derogatory term for a woman, is a relic of another, more sexist time. But, like other contested words, it has been reclaimed and reappr