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

THE MICHELA AND ADRIAN FINI ARTIST FELLOWSHIP

Michela and Adrian Fini have pledged $25,000 to Sheila Foundation to support a Fellowship for women artists in Western Australia.

Michela is a former Board member of Sheila Foundation and she and husband Adrian are major patrons of the arts. They have previously funded a similar Fellowship in 2021, 2022 and 2023. See below for details of the recipients and their work.

The impact of the Fellowship on the careers of the recipients has been significant, so Michela and Adrian wish to continue their support.

The Michela and Adrian Fini Artist Fellowship is an annual program that will support the development of new work by contemporary women artists at a critical juncture of their career, assisting them to exhibit work at a leading Western Australian institution. The aim of the Fellowship is to support the career growth of the artist and to support innovation in the arts in WA generally. Applications are accepted from a partner network of seven Western Australian contemporary art organisations, each 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 and Adrian Fini Artist Fellowship, presented by Sheila Foundation, is an annual fellowship to support women artists with $25,000 to realise new work with one of seven Western Australian arts organisations, for exhibition in 2027.

Participating organisations are invited to nominate an artist from their forward 2027 program, 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.

This year’s seven partner organisations are: Art Gallery of Western Australia, Edith Cowan Gallery (Edith Cowan University), Goolugatup Heathcote, John Curtin Gallery (Curtin University), Lawrence Wilson Art Gallery (University of WA), Perth Institute of Contemporary Art (PICA), and Walyalup Fremantle Arts Centre.

“
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, Former Sheila Board Member

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