The Adelaide Central School of Art (ACSA) is offering $250 travel subsidies for interstate students to attend its 2016 Open Day on August 14.

It will also offer scholarships of up to $2000 for outstanding applicants to enrol in 2017.

The funding comes in the wake of a collapsed merger between the University of Sydney and University of New South Wales art schools, which has left about 200 students without a clear professional pathway.

ACSA CEO Ingrid Kellenbach says she hoped the funding will highlight the opportunities for art education in South Australia.

“We are the only school that only employs sessional lecturers – being that they are all practising artists, writers or curators,” she says.

“My view is that students, even when I travel overseas, go to the places with the best teachers and I do believe it’s acknowledged that we have attracted some of the top artists in Australia.

“Adelaide Central School of Art offers an outstanding model of tertiary visual arts education that is intensive, practise led, studio-based, and taught in small classes.”

In addition to the travel subsidies and relocation funds, the ACSA also has a $7500 Bachelor of Visual (Honours) Scholarship that is available to applicants nationally.

The ACSA school year is 10 weeks longer than other contemporary institutions to give students additional time to hone skills and access facilities and teaching staff.

Lecturers include internationally recognised artist Christopher Orchard and Nicholas Folland, a leading South Australia Living Arts Festival (SALA) artist.

“Adelaide is one of the most liveable cities and is more affordable than Sydney or Melbourne and a lot of our students volunteer for arts organisations and the contemporary arts scene in South Australia,” Kellenbach says.

This article was first published on The Lead.