Salote Tawale, I don’t see colour exhibition at PICA. Photo by Bo Wong.

THE MICHELA AND ADRIAN FINI ARTIST FELLOWSHIP

Sheila Foundation Board member Michela Fini and her husband Adrian have pledged a donation to Sheila to launch a unique annual Fellowship that will support women artists and arts institutions.

This is a responsive, focused annual program that will support the development of new work by contemporary women artists at a critical juncture of their career, whether they be emerging, mid-career or senior artists, and assist in the presentation and documentation of the work at a contemporary art space. Applications are accepted from Contemporary Arts Organisations Australia member organisations, partnering with a woman artist of their choice.

ARTIST STORY

ALANA HUNT

"This work will speak through agendas of development and colonisation and leisure, coursing through our lives and the places we hold dear", says Hunt. "It will speak of airports and tourism and boats, of altered ecosystems and large dams and police. It will speak of agriculture and gravel pits and home - the violence inherent in a seemingly simple quest for a home at the expense of another's. It will try to work with forensic accountability while holding imagination close. And in the midst of all these threads, and signalled with most urgency, is a persistent consideration of ourselves on this Country."

Read Alana's Story
Alana Hunt. Photo by Ben Lindberg.

Recipients

Alana Hunt (2023)

Artist Alana Hunt has been awarded the Foundation’s third Fini Fellowship, an opportunity that will allow her to create a body of new work for her forthcoming solo exhibition Surveilling a Crime Scene at the Northern Centre for,Contemporary Art (NCCA) Darwin from 6 October – November 2023.

 

“The Fini Fellowship is an affirmation that ruptures the pervasive spirit of doubt”, observes Hunt. “It contributes one more piece to the ongoing puzzle of an artist’s income. It allows a little bit more time and a little bit more rigour and a little bit more abandon. And it allows me to work with the Northern Centre for Contemporary Art. In short, the Fini Fellowship is an honour.” Read more.

 

Natalya Hughes (2022)

The Sheila Foundation has awarded the 2022 Michela and Adrian Fini Artist Fellowship to Brisbane-based artist Natalya Hughes to support her to create a body of new work for her forthcoming solo exhibition ‘The Interior’, to be held at The Institute of Modern Art, Brisbane between 30 July – 1 October 2022.  “I'm so grateful to receive the 2022 Michela and Adrian Fini Fellowship. It will me allow me to work in ways that are both more ambitious and more embracing of the risks and challenges that experimentation pose. It's so important to have that push to go further as an artist, and especially as female artist at this stage in my career,” Natalya said. Read more

Salote Tawale (2021)

Sydney-based artist Salote Tawale has been awarded the inaugural fellowship, an opportunity that will allow her to create a body of new work for her forthcoming solo exhibition I don’t see colour at Perth Institute of Contemporary Arts (PICA) in July 2021.

 

Fellowship recipient Salote Tawale said that being able to develop the project with PICA was an important part of the opportunity. “A huge thank you to the Sheila Foundation for supporting this exhibition and allowing me as an artist to develop this project with PICA beyond my original expectations.” Read more

The Fellowship Process

The Michela & Adrian Fini Artist Fellowship, presented by Sheila Foundation, is an annual fellowship to support women artists with $20,000 to realise new work in a Contemporary Arts Organisation Australia (CAOA) Member exhibition program.

CAOA members are invited between March – June each year to nominate an artist from their forward program of the following 12 months, whether in a group or solo show context, with an ambitious project to be realised with the funds. The artist may be emerging, mid-career or senior and must be an Australian resident and female-identifying.

Visit the CAOA website for list of the organisations.

“
It was important to Adrian and I that we create something unique, that provided an opportunity that was much needed in the Australian sector. The Fellowship is designed to make a pratical difference to both artists and contemporary art spaces.

Michela Fini, Sheila Board Member

Explore our blog