samstag media release
2008 SAMSTAG SCHOLARSHIPS
Wednesday, 10 October, 2007
The University of South Australia has announced the 2008 Anne & Gordon Samstag International Visual Arts Scholarships.
Five artists from around Australia have been
presented the prestigious awards for study overseas in the visual arts,
commencing in 2008. They are: Simon
Terrill (Victoria); Hayden
Fowler and Giles Ryder (NSW);
Tracy Cornish (South
Australia); and Joshua Webb
(Western Australia).
This year’s Scholarship announcement coincides with the University of South
Australia’s official opening – on Friday 12 October – of its new
Anne & Gordon Samstag Museum of Art.
The elegant, two-level gallery complex – named in honour of these two
distinguished benefactors to Australian culture and their relationship with the
University – is a world-class facility that answers a long-standing need in
Adelaide for a second public gallery of scale.
The 2008 Samstag catalogue essayist is
Louise Martin-Chew, a
freelance writer based in Brisbane. She is Brisbane art critic for The
Australian newspaper, and contributes regularly to art magazines, journals and
exhibition catalogues. Like last year, the Class of 2008 catalogue once more
includes the innovation of a DVD insert, reflecting the growing shift towards
technology-based mediums among the new generation of visual artists.
Judges for the 2008 Samstag Scholarships were Professor Kay Lawrence, head of
the South Australian School of Art, Paul Hoban, artist and lecturer at the
School of Art, and Jon Cattapan, the prominent Melbourne-based painter.
Each Samstag Scholarship artist receives a twelve months living allowance of
US$32,000 (United States dollars), as well as travel expenses and the cost of
institutional study fees, commonly in excess of $30,000 a year at leading
international art schools. Now in their sixteenth award year, the Samstag
Scholarships are renowned for identifying artists of exciting talent, who
progress to careers of high achievement. A total of 116 Samstag Scholarships
have been awarded since 1992.
For further information contact – Ross Wolfe, Director, Samstag Program
Tel + 618 (08) 8302 0869; 0417 814 188 (m);
ross.wolfe@unisa.edu.au