Applications open for $10,000 art commissions
The call has gone out to established Central Queensland artists to apply for three commissions to create artworks which will be exhibited at Rockhampton Museum of Art when it opens in late 2021.
Each commission is worth $10,000, funded by a grant received by Rockhampton Art Gallery from the Federal Government’s Regional Arts Fund (RAF).
Artists who live in any of the following Central Queensland regions are eligible to apply: Rockhampton, Livingstone, Gladstone, Banana, Woorabinda, Central Highlands, Isaac, Barcaldine, Blackall-Tambo, Longreach, Winton, Barcoo, Diamantina and Boulia.
The commissions are seeking to encapsulate the artists’ practices and respond to the architecture of the newly developed Rockhampton Museum of Art building, creating artworks that are engaging, relevant, inclusive and interdisciplinary.
From an opportunity call out, artists will be shortlisted from which three artists awarded the commissions. The three commissioned artists will work collaboratively with Rockhampton Museum of Art curatorial and exhibitions staff foster both conceptual and practical development for the new artwork commissions.
Following the conceptual and practical development, the resulting artwork commissions will be showcased as part of the one of the opening exhibitions of Rockhampton Museum of Art. Collectively the artwork commissions aim to contribute to a lively, accessible, genuine and welcoming atmosphere of Rockhampton Museum of Art.
Rockhampton Regional Council Community Services Spokesperson Cr Drew Wickerson said that Rockhampton Museum of Art would be a focal point of the visual arts in the region.
“Rockhampton Art Gallery is throwing the net widely with its expressions of interest for these commissions to ensure that artists who work in the wider region are at the forefront of Rockhampton Museum of Art and are represented during the opening celebrations.
“This commissioning process will contribute to upskilling of artists from the Central Queensland region to deliver large-scale projects, and ensuring their representation at the heart of Rockhampton Museum of Art.
“In these economically uncertain times, these commissions will be a welcome financial injection into the local arts community,” Cr Wickerson said.
The Regional Arts Fund (RAF) is an Australian Government program designed to benefit regional and remote arts practitioners, arts workers, audiences and communities. The fund is provided through Regional Arts Australia and is administered in Queensland by Flying Arts Alliance.
Flying Arts is an arts and cultural development organisation which has been delivering visual arts projects and services to regional and remote Queensland since 1971. The Association has played a significant role in inspiring artists and communities, as well as helping to overcome the impacts of regional isolation and remote living.
Rockhampton Museum of Art is funded by the Australian Government through the Building Better Regions Fund; the Queensland Government through Arts Queensland and through the Building Our Regions program; and Rockhampton Regional Council.
Expressions of interest are now open and will close at 3pm on Monday 21 September 2020.
