The Frank Van Straten Fellowship is back with a unique opportunity to research and develop a project in exploration of the iconic Australian Performing Arts Collection.
Applications are now open and close on 10 March 2023 for a Fellowship which commences in July 2023.
The key objective of the Frank Van Straten Fellowship is to enhance the analysis, discoverability, and interpretation of the Australian Performing Arts Collection through high quality research and/or creative works that will resonate with diverse audiences.
The Fellow will be given access to the Australian Performing Arts Collection as well as a stipend of $15,000 to undertake research aligned to key areas including: circus, dance, music, opera and theatre (which includes comedy, vaudeville and magic). The program also creates opportunities for the wider community to access the Australian Performing Arts Collection through the outcomes of Fellowship projects.
The Fellowship is made possible through the generous contribution of the Frank Van Straten AM and Adrian Turley Foundation. Frank played a pivotal role in the establishment of the Australian Performing Arts Collection in the late 1970s and was the founding director and first archivist of what was then the Performing Arts Museum. Arts Centre Melbourne has been the proud custodian of the Collection since its creation in the early 1980s.
Since launching in 2020 the Frank Van Straten Fellowship has produced outstanding works highlighting stories from a diverse and rich history of performing arts in Australia.
Past recipients include Australian Writers Guild Award nominee Dr Kate Rice with docu-drama series Performing the Past, Cathy Pryor with a digital exploration into the history of three iconic female magicians in Rare flowers and golden butterflies and most recently, Angela Bailey with The GLAD Project, an exploration into the queer and often secreted lives of Australian performing artists.
A physical exhibition of Bailey’s The GLAD Project was recently featured at the Victoria Pride Centre for Midsumma Festival with a digital component to come.
Applications for the 2023 Fellowship close on 10 March 2022. Guidelines for application are available via the Frank Van Straten Fellowship website.
Photo credit: Mark Gambino
