Samstag’s class of 2023 scholars 

South Australian early-career artist Inneke Taalman is one of three 2023 recipients of the potentially life-changing Anne & Gordon Samstag International Visual Arts Scholarship.

Taalman and fellow recipients Lauren Burrow (Victoria) and Sam Mountford (Tasmania) will each receive a scholarship providing institutional fees for one academic year of study, a $70,000 tax-free allowance, and travel expenses to a leading international art school of their choice.

The artists’ practises range across installation, performance and screen, with Taalman’s work said to speak to “ideas of the body at work, both artistic and non-artistic”.

“My ambition for international study is a practice-led, intellectual pursuit,” says Taalman (whose art name is Inneke Taal). “I have wanted to study overseas since I was at least 18 years old; prior to that, I wanted to join a travelling circus.”

Erica Green, director of the Samstag Museum of Art, which administers the program, said the experience of previous recipients had shown that the scholarships offered a life-changing professional opportunity.

Funding boost for creative sector

Twenty-three small to medium South Australian arts organisations spanning theatre, visual arts, dance, literature and other creative areas will receive multi-year funding in the State Government’s latest grants round.

Arts Minister Andrea Michaels said this week that more than $20 million will be distributed through the Arts Organisations Program from 2023-26, with the sector benefitting from an additional $4 million promised ahead of the state election.

“Importantly, for the first time we have extended the [multi-year] funding to four years, providing further funding certainty to arts organisations, while introducing new pathways for organisations to enter the program.”

Recipients of the four-year funding (which ranges from $70,000 to $450,000 per annum) include Slingsby Theatre, APY Art Centre Collective, Vitalstatistix, Tutti Arts, Writers SA, ActNow Theatre, Adelaide Chamber Singers and Restless Dance Theatre (see the full list here).

Recipients of 2023 funding through the new Program Support category (offering up to $50,000 per annum) are COMA, FELTspace, Lewis Major Projects, Soundstream and Theatre Republic. Gravity & Other Myths will receive annual funding for 2023.

Fringe CEO scoops leadership award

Adelaide Fringe director and CEO Heather Croall. Photo: Lee Knowles

Adelaide Fringe director and CEO Heather Croall has been recognised in digital magazine CEO Monthly’s 2022 awards.

Croall, who has led Fringe since 2015, was named Festival Management CEO of the Year in the global magazine’s newly introduced all-female awards category recognising leaders across different sectors.

She said the Fringe team was pivotal to the event’s success, as is its collaborative approach: “Collaboration is where we have made leaps and bounds as an organisation, and I truly believe we have strength together, which is part of the ethos I apply when considering operations both internally and externally.”

Croall’s Adelaide Fringe story and professional profile features in the October edition of CEO Monthly, which is published by UK-based AI Global Media and circulated to around 48,000 subscribers.

Changing roles

Guildhouse chief executive Emma Fey will step down in mid-November to take up a new appointment as assistant director, operations, at the Art Gallery of South Australia.

Fey has led the not-for-profit organisation for the past five-and-a-half years, through what board chair Andrew Cohen described as “a period of proactive transformation”.

“She did this during a very challenging period for artists and the cultural sector… Under Emma’s leadership, Guildhouse has grown creative and professional development opportunities for artists, nurtured meaningful partnerships and collaborations, and strengthened its business model through growing membership, social enterprise and philanthropic support.”

Fey said she was proud of what the organisation had achieved during her tenure, and expressed her gratitude to the Guildhouse community: “You have inspired me, motivated me and put a fire in my belly to champion the voice of the artist.”

In the newly created role at AGSA, she will develop and lead the gallery’s organisational, operational, commercial, digital and governance functions. Guildhouse has appointed artistic programs manager Debbie Pryor as its acting CEO, with recruitment for Fey’s replacement to begin in the coming weeks.

‘Something a Little Bit Different’

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=liGd0MEU3u0

The Sit Down Shutup and Watch Screen Festival is presenting free online screenings of films by learning disabled and neurodiverse creators from across the world this month.

The festival, presented by Tutti Arts, features more than 35 films spanning drama, sci-fi, animation, mockumentary, personal stories, music video and abstract filmmaking. It began this week, with online screenings from noon from Wednesday to Saturday until October 30 on the event’s YouTube channel, Facebook page and website (details here).

The theme for the fifth year of the annual festival is Something a Little Bit Different, and it also includes mini film reviews by YouTuber Mikey Oz Need.

Green Room is a regular column for InReview, providing quick news for people interested, or involved, in South Australian arts and culture.

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