The Australia Council is continuing to see positive outcomes for female artists who received more than half (63%) of the grants awarded to individual artists in its latest grant round.

The Australia Council welcomes the strong success for female artists, following the release of the research Making Art Work which highlights the substantial pay gap for women in the arts.

There was particularly good news for women in music: 73% of music grants awarded to individual artists were awarded to women in a significant increase on previous rounds.

Overall, the Australia Council’s latest grant round will deliver $6.3 million to Australian artists, supporting more than 200 diverse and ambitious projects from individual artists, groups and organisations.

The high demand for Australia Council grants continued, with a total of 1,227 applications received including 30% from first time applicants. In addition to the funded projects, a further 163 projects were assessed to be worthy of support, affirming the high levels of artistic vibrancy of Australian arts.

Australia Council CEO Tony Grybowski acknowledged the diversity and quality of the projects funded in such a competitive environment.

“These grants will support a significantrange of arts activity. The Australia Council’s project and career development grants invest in artists at crucial moments, supporting sustainable careers, and the creation of compelling artistic work that will be experienced and enjoyed by audiences across Australia and internationally.”

Some of the projects supported include:

• Award-winning Australian composer Cat Hope developing the final stage of her opera “Speechless”.
• The inaugural Australian Women in Music Awards to be held in Brisbane next month.
• The latest dance work by choreographer Stephanie Lake, in collaboration with theatre director Matthew Lutton, inspired by the Nick Cave album, Skeleton Tree.
• A major sculptural installation by WA artist Abdul-Rahman Abdullah for ‘The National 2019: New Australian Art’ at the Museum of Contemporary Art.
• Emerging writer Khalid Warsame from Melbourne’s west writing his debut novel.
• The Dead Puppet Society’s critically acclaimed theatre production The Wider Earth to travel to the UK for a season at the Natural History Museum, following highly successful runs in NSW and Queensland.

Australia Council grant applications are peer assessed by panels of industry experts from across the country. Applications for the next grants round close on 2 October 2018.

Australia Council Grant Recipient Cat Hope – Image credit: Edie Stevens