About The Marten Bequest
The Marten Bequest Scholarships offer talented young artists the chance to explore, study and develop their artistic gifts through travelling either interstate and/or overseas.
In 2025, the scholarships will provide financial support for the disciplines of architecture, ballet, prose, sculpture and singing.
In 2026, the scholarships will provide financial support for the disciplines of acting, instrumental music, painting and poetry.
Scholarships are each worth $50,000, payable in quarterly instalments over two years.
John Chisholm Marten (1908 – 1966) was born in Kent, England and moved to Australia at a young age, residing in Sydney for his adult life. John Marten was a theatrical artist and well known for his appreciation and support of the arts community.
John was actively involved in many different art forms. He was trained in Spanish dancing and served in the merchant navy during the war. John also co-authored The Bali Ballet Murders with Cornelius Conyn, which was published in Australia, London and translated into Dutch and published in the Netherlands. (This novel can be found at the Mitchell Library A823/C768/IAI.)
A strong advocate for the artistic capabilities of young Australians, John understood the costs involved in study and training programs and established The Marten Bequest through a charitable trust.
The scholarships are administered by Creative Australia on behalf of Perpetual as trustee.
A list of previous recipients is available here.
Who can apply
Individual artists who are:
- Australian citizens
- aged 17 – 35 at the closing date, (4 February 2025) for ballet
- aged 21 – 35 at the closing date, (4 February 2025) for architecture, prose, sculpture and singing.
These are terms established by The Marten Bequest and there are no exceptions to this requirement.
All applicants should familiarise themselves with the terms and conditions of The Marten Bequest.
The successful recipients of the Martin Bequest Scholarships must provide proof of Australian citizenship. This may involve Creative Australia staff witnessing your passport or birth certificate.
If you are an Australian citizen but will have difficulty providing a copy of a birth certificate, passport or citizenship certificate, please contact Artists Services.
Who can’t apply
You can’t apply for a scholarship if:
- you have an overdue grant report
- you owe money to Creative Australia
- you were previously awarded a grant through The Marten Bequest.
What you can apply for
In 2025, we will support scholarships for the following disciplines:
- architecture
- ballet
- prose
- sculpture
- singing.
Scholarship funds can be used to assist with study programs, professional training courses and mentor programs in Australia and overseas. You may also participate in online opportunities: however, the majority of the scholarship funds should support travel to access those opportunities.
Scholarships are paid in quarterly instalments over two years. Your application should include a program of activities that take place between June 2025 and June 2027.
Assessment Process
Your application will be reviewed by Creative Australia staff. We may seek industry advice on your application before making our recommendations to Perpetual, who will make the final decision.
The decision of Perpetual is final, and no feedback will be provided on your application or the decision.
Assessment Criteria
Submissions will be assessed against 2 criteria. Under each criterion are bullet points indicating what Creative Australia staff may consider when assessing your application. You do not need to respond to every bullet point listed.
- Quality
Creative Australia staff will assess your artistic potential and the quality of the proposal.
They may consider:
- the quality of your artistic practice
- the benefit and impact of the proposal on your career development.
- Viability
Creative Australia staff will assess the viability of your proposal. They may consider:
- the relevance and timeliness of your proposed activities
- the role of partners or collaborators, including confirmation of involvement
- realistic and achievable planning and resource use, including any relevant plans for national or international travel.
Applications for this Award are submitted via Creative Australia’s Application Management System. If you are using the system for the first time you will need to register your details to access the application form.
Once signed into the AMS, click on ‘Apply for a Grant’ from the left panel menu. Scroll down the list of opportunities. Under ‘Co-Investment Opportunities’ select ‘The Marten Bequest’.
We do not accept entries submitted via post. Any material received by post will not be assessed and will be returned to the sender. If you think you will have difficulty submitting your submission online, please contact Artists Services.
The type of questions we ask in the application form include:
- your name and contact details
- agreement with terms and conditions of the scholarship
- confirmation that you are an Australian citizen
- confirmation of your age
- which discipline you are applying for
- information about your practice, your professional experience and your career goals
- the proposed aim and activities of your scholarship (names of teachers/institutions, travel plans, dates, etc), and how your planned activities will assist your artistic career
- support material relevant to your proposal.
Additional material must be submitted to support your application. We will review support material to understand your artistic practice and viability of your proposal.
You can submit the following support material with your application:
- Artistic support material
You may submit up to two URLs (weblinks). These URLs should be direct links to material and can include video, audio, images (photos, drawings, sketches or plans), and writing.
For ballet and singing applications:
- a direct link/URL to video recording of a performance; for singing this may be a link to an audio recording.
For sculpture and architecture applications:
- a direct link/URL to 12 digital images or video recording.
For prose applications:
- a direct link/URL to prose (2 – 5 pieces of work).
- Letters of support
You may include up to five (5) letters of support or written references for you and your project, with each letter not exceeding one A4 page. The letters should explain how the proposed scholarship will benefit you. They should be combined into a single document.
Our preferred method of receiving support material is via URLs (weblinks). However, if you cannot supply artistic support material via URL, we will accept artistic support material in the following formats:
- video (MP4 and Windows Media)
- audio (MP3 and Windows Media)
- images (JPEG and PowerPoint)
- written material (PDF).
Please note: Our assessors will not access any URLs that require them to log in or sign up to a platform. Please do not provide links to Spotify or other applications that require users to log in or pay for access.
If you are linking to media files that are private or password protected like Vimeo, please provide the password in the password field on the application form.
To find out more about support material, including advice on how to get examples of your work online, please contact Artists Services.
The Marten Bequest terms and conditions can be viewed here.