Debra Porch Award: Visual Arts Residency (Australia)

Each gallery will host one artist each year; an Australian artist and a Thai artist, to undertake a visual arts residency. In honour of Debra Porch’s life’s work, this award will continue to be reciprocal in nature, to ensure long term engagement and strengthen strong intercultural connections across the Asia Pacific region.

An Australian visual artist will be awarded a grant for a supported residency at SAC Gallery in Bangkok, Thailand. A Thai visual artist will also be awarded a reciprocal grant for a supported residency at UNSW Galleries in Sydney, Australia.

The residency host organisations will introduce the artist to the local sector and assist with research and network building with relevant communities. The artist will also have the option to share an artist talk or participate in a public program at the end of the residency period.

Award Information

•  Each Award has total value of up to $13,000 AUD for Australia/$10,000 AUD for Thailand, with in-kind support provided by residency host organisations.

Eligibility Criteria

• This program is designed for visual artists who work in an interdisciplinary and/or gallery context and who are:
  • Mid-career artists in Australia or Thailand. Applicants must be citizens or permanent residents of either country
  • Have a visual arts and/or interdisciplinary practice with an interest in material exploration
  • Committed to a long-term engagement with Thailand, and vice versa

Ineligibility Criteria

• You cannot apply if:
  • You have an overdue grant report
  • You owe money to Creative Australia
  • You are an organization

Assessment Criteria

• Applicants must address the following assessment criteria:
  • Artistic merit
    • Suitability of your practice to the residency program and its artistic environment/offer
    • Quality of work previously produced, and public and peer response to your work.
  • Viability
    • Suitability of your proposal to the residency program
    • The skills and artistic ability of your collaborators (if applicable) and their relevance to the proposed activity
    • Realistic and achievable planning, resource use and evaluation
  • Impact on career
    • How the proposed activity strengthens your artistic practice
    • The relevance and timeliness of the proposed activity
    • How the proposed activity strengthens your capacity as an arts professional, particularly in relation to international development and collaboration

Application Requirements

• There are three types of support material you may submit:
  • Support material
    • This should include relevant, recent examples of your artistic or cultural work.
    • Types of support material they accept
    • Their preferred method of receiving support material is via URLs (weblinks).
    • You can provide up to three URLs (weblinks) that link to content that is relevant to your proposal. This may include video, audio, images, or written material.
    • These URLs can include a total of:
      • 10 minutes of video and/or audio recording
      • 10 images
      • 10 pages of written material (for example, excerpts of literary writing).
  • Please note:  Their assessors will not access any URLs that require them to log in or sign up to a platform. Please do not provide links to Spotify or other applications that require users to log in or pay for access.
  • If you are linking to media files that are private or password protected like Vimeo, please provide the password in the password field on the application form.
  • Other accepted file formats
    • If you cannot supply support material via URLs, you may upload support material to your application in the following formats:
      • Video (MP4, QuickTime, and Windows Media)
      • Audio (MP3 and Windows Media)
      • Images (JPEG and PowerPoint)
      • Written material (Word and PDF).
      • Biographies and CVs
      • You can include a brief bio or curriculum vitae (CV) for key artists, personnel or other collaborators involved in your project.
      • Brief bios or CV information should be presented as a single document no longer than two A4 pages in total.
  • Letters of support
    • Individuals, groups, or organisations can write letters in support of your project. A support letter should explain how the project or activity will benefit you, other artists or arts professionals, participants, or the broader community. It can also detail the support or involvement of key project partners, or evidence of consultation.
    • If relevant to your activity, letters of support must provide evidence of appropriate permissions and support from First Nations organisations, communities, and Elders. Please refer to the First Nations Protocols for more information.
    • You can include up to five letters of support, with each letter not exceeding one A4 page.

For more information, visit Creative Australia.