| Australian Bicentennial Scheme Menzies Centre for Australian Studies University of London | Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts Edith Cowan University |
Applications are invited from appropriately qualified British candidates for a Visual Arts Fellowship to be awarded jointly by the Sir Robert Menzies Centre for Australian Studies and the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA) at Edith Cowan University, Perth, Australia.
The Fellowship will be tenable at WAAPA in Perth and at its regional centres in Western Australia. The value of the award will be up to £4,000.
Appropriate qualifications in this case would be: a good degree or equivalent at an approved tertiary institution and suitable evidence of postgraduate visual arts achievement and experience.
Younger scholars are preferred, but while there is no formal age limit a scholar or fellow must be likely to be able to make a contribution in his/her field for at least ten years.
A successful applicant must spend at least three months studying in Australia.
A scholar/fellow must take up the award by the end of July 2000, or forfeit the grant.
Applications should be made on the Visual Arts Fellowship form and should include a CV, the names of three referees, and a statement on the proposed project. Applicants may provide up to 6 slides of their work or other relevant supporting material. Please note that no other application form will be accepted. Incomplete applications will be considered ineligible. The application form and appendices should reach the Secretary, Sir Robert Menzies Centre for Australian Studies, no later than 4 June 1999. Applicants must themselves arrange for their referees to send their reports direct to the Secretary, Sir Robert Menzies Centre, by no later than 4 June 1999. The Menzies Centre does not pursue late referees' reports.
Application forms will not be distributed after 28 May 1999.
A detailed report on the fellowship is required within three months of the fellow's return to the UK.
Quite possibly, the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts is the most exciting, dynamic and successful arts training institution in Australia. It aims to provide excellent training and performance opportunities to highly committed and talented performers and artists, and to prepare them for a variety of careers within the arts industry. Courses at the Academy have been acclaimed by the performing and visual arts communities because of the excellent teaching curriculum, the national and international reputation of the teaching staff and the quality of its graduates. Graduates from the Academy seek and achieve employment in every aspect of the performing and visual arts industries in Australia and overseas.
WAAPA was established in 1979 and is located in the Perth suburbs at the Mt Lawley campus of Edith Cowan University. The Academy comprises three teaching divisions: The WA School of Dramatic Art, The WA School of Visual Arts , The WA Conservatorium of Music. WAAPA is unique in Australia, as it is the only school of its kind which offers within the one organisation, full-time vocational preparation in music, dance, theatre broadcasting, musical theatre, arts management, costume, design, sets and properties, stage management, lighting, venue operations, art therapy and the visual arts. The Academy employs approximately 260 full and part-time staff and enrols over 1,000 students annually. Although conceived administratively as a faculty of Edith Cowan University, the Academy enjoys a wide and semi-autonomous brief, while having access to the substantial resources and facilities of the larger organisation. Students enrolled in the Academy have full acces to the facilities of the larger University, including computer laboratories, guild, shops, refect-ories, libraries, student housing and more. The WA School of Visual Arts is housed in modern studios adjacent to the WA Conservat-orium of Music and the WA School of Dramatic Arts. There is a small exhibition area which houses regular exhibitions of work by interstate and overseas artists. The association of Visual Arts with the other schools of the Academy provides a unique multi-arts opportunity which the programmes of the school are intended to facilitate. The School offers programmes ranging from Associate Degrees through to Masters courses in art therapy, ceramics, painting, printmaking, drawing, textiles and sculpture.
Edith Dircksey Cowan (1861-1932), a prominent social worker, became the first woman member of any parliament in Australia when elected to the WA Assembly in 1921. Established on 1 January 1991, Edith Cowan University replaced the WA College of Advanced Education established in 1982 which in turn was an amalgamation into a single institution of the four previously autonomous colleges of advanced education at Churchlands, Claremont, Mount Lawley and Nedlands. Claremont, the oldest tertiary institution in this state, was established in 1902 as Claremont Teachers College. Nedlands was founded in 1967 as a secondary teachers college, and Mt Lawley (1970) and Churchlands (1972) both as primary teachers colleges. The College became an autonomous, multi-campus tertiary institution in 1984, at which time WAAPA, founded in 1979, was included.
Perth, the State capital, has classic mediterranean climate ‹ mild winters and warm-hot dry summers. Mid-winter/July temperatures range from 8 to 18 celsius, whilst mid-summer averages 17 to 32 celsius. Perth has more house of sunlight per day and more rain free days than any other Australian city. Rental accommodation living costs are amongst the lowest in Australia and almost half those of Sydney. Australian prices are generally much lower than those in Britain. The State's 1.6 million people live across an area three times as big as Texas.