11 July 2023
The Helpmann Academy has awarded ten emerging creatives across a range of creative disciplines including visual and performing arts, theatre, screen and music with up to $3,000 each in support, through our Creative Development Grants program.
Our Creative Development Grants support eligible emerging creatives with grants of up to $3,000 to kickstart new projects, research and develop ideas or new works, or build skills, markets and creative practices. Congratulations to the following Helpmann Academy Creative Development Grant recipients!
Chris Siu (University of South Australia graduate) is a Hong Kong born photographer, currently living and studying on Kaurna land, South Australia. Chris works primarily in medium format analogue photography. He is drawn to this photographic process because it is produced and cared for entirely by hand; from capturing and developing, to printing and digitising the analogue images. Inspired by documentary conventions, his work investigates and chronicles the intricate relationships that lie within his surrounding social landscapes. This grant will support Chris to present a solo exhibition at Nexus Arts in September 2023, coinciding with a sponsored studio residency at The Mill.
Crista Bradshaw (University of South Australia graduate) is a proud Wangkumaran Contemporary artist. Her practice involves the rediscovering of her heritage lost to colonization and dispossession. Exploring the fusion of Western and Aboriginal art, Crista’s practice delves deeper into their inner workings, intertwining and expanding upon each other. Through mixed disciplinary techniques like expanded painting, sculpture, and installation, she represents the evolving nature of Indigenous and Australian art. Crista was the recipients of the SALA Award at this year’s Helpmann Academy Graduate Exhibition. This grant will support Crista to produce her very first solo exhibition at SALA (August 2023) and help launch her independent artistic career.
Jack Calver (Flinders University graduate) is an actor and producer, based in various parts of Australia. He first made his leap into the creative industry when he was awarded the State Theatre Company of South Australia’s Young Playwright Award. At age seventeen, he then set up Glassroom Theatre Company to present and perform his show Clanstow for the 2018 Adelaide Fringe, followed by Blackrockin 2019. Jack will use this Creative Development Grant towards producing his new play Unfair Verona: The Misadventures of Romeo & Juliet which was devised in Adelaide and will be presented in Sydney from 20 July at Glassroom Theatre Company.
“This grant removes a multitude of barriers that so often prevent new graduates from creating their own work, allowing us to continue developing our skills and showcase our training to the Australian theatre industry interstate.” – Jack Calver
Kyle Davis (Flinders University graduate) is an independent filmmaker whose previous work takes place somewhere between documentary and experimental cinema. His debut feature, Dry Winter, follows a young couple in a ghost town in a style that prioritises character psychology, landscape and sensory immersion over conventional narrative beats. Dry Winter was the first long format film to come out of an Australian university and be released at Melbourne Independent Film Festival (Australian premiere) and Visions du Reel Film Festival in Nyon, Switzerland (World Premiere). Kyle is currently working on a short film and developing a second feature. This grant will assist in the production stage of his new short film, On Wild Horse Plains.
Nicky Tsz Tung Li (University of South Australia graduate) is a Hong-Kong-born multidisciplinary artist with a passion for music theatre and experimental arts. Nicky has been active in the Adelaide music theatre community since 2019 with credits including Miss Saigon, Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, and Mary Poppins. In 2022, she took on a more socially responsible role of conducting cultural consultation for State Theatre Company of SA’s Single Asian Female and RUMPUS’s Coldhands. She is currently an Interplay artist at Nexus Arts. Nicky plans to create a retro cabaret entitled Leslie & Anita: Fallen Stars of Hong Kong. The performance will tell a story about the Hong Kong spirits through celebrating the music of and paying tribute to deceased artists Leslie Cheung and Anita Mui. The Creative Development Grant will provide an invaluable contribution towards artist fees.
Oakey (Flinders University graduate) is an emerging contemporary artist based in Tarntanya/Adelaide whose practice traverses’ sculpture, site-specific installations and sound. Currently working out of Central Studios, she uses a range of materials, creating works for both urban and natural environments. Oakey’s experiences of being fully immersed in an array of natural environments has created a deep fascination in the interconnectedness of the living world and our relationship to it. She works as lead installer at ACE, installs at the Jam Factory and has recently finished a mentorship with Hill-Smith Art Advisory. Receiving this grant will support Oakey’s glass blowing lessons with contemporary glass artist Alexandra Hirst at the JamFactory. These sessions aim build on her foundational knowledge in lead lighting and expand her skillset to include glassblowing fundamentals.
Sam Wilson (University of Adelaide graduate) is Australian born in Singapore and educated in Tokyo and Adelaide. He is the songwriter, singer, and multi-instrumentalist of the Tarntanya/Adelaide – based art folk band Wake In Fright, a band whose songs incorporate influence from folk, jazz and pop to merge past, present, and cross-cultural sensibilities. In the past two years, Wake In Fright has performed in venues across Adelaide and has self-released two full-length albums and an EP. The Creative Development Grant will be used towards recording, mixing and mastering a new 12-track Wake In Fright album this August, entitled “The Modern Shoe Is Ruining The Foot”.
Samantha Sharplin (Flinders University graduate) is an emerging filmmaker. She graduated from Flinders University with a Bachelor of Creative Arts with Honours and has since been working across the film industry. This year Sam is excited to be producing the comedy web series, “Rules to Being a F*ckgurl”, with writer and director Nelya Valamanesh. This comedy web series rejects the myth that women ‘can have it all’ as they explore the joys and blunders of being a sexually liberated woman of colour in modern society. This funding support will the acquisition and commission of music for the series.
“With Helpmann Academy’s assistance we will be able to elevate our web series with music from Aussie artists. This grant will get our series to the next level and give us the chance to collaborate with musicians and composers.” – Samantha Sharplin
Samuel Matthewman (University of South Australia graduate) is a queer artist and performer raised on Kaurna land, South Australia. They specialize in sculptural and installation art, working predominantly with ceramic and textile materials. Their creative career began within a contemporary circus company, and they continue to incorporate elements of circus into their work. Sam has gained recognition for their incorporation of cast elbows of fellow acrobats into their art. This grant will support Sam’s new innovative performance project, combining acrobatics and pottery on a pottery wheel. In collaboration with Massimo Vidale, an expert in archaeology and preservation, they will push the boundaries of their respective practices and create a ground-breaking artistic experience at Padua University, Italy in late September.
Stephanie Doddridge (University of South Australia graduate) is an emerging contemporary artist working with printmaking, ceramic, textile and sculptural production methods. Stephanie is drawn to gardens and uses garden produce as materials to investigate symbiotic human – nature relationships. In 2021, Stephanie was selected to exhibit in Hatched: National Graduate Exhibition, at Perth Institute of Contemporary Art. She has gained multiple awards from the University of South Australia and the Helpmann Academy. She is a current studio resident at 215 Magill, a supported position awarded through the Helpmann Academy. This grant will support Stephanie as she presents her first solo exhibition On Harvesting Dandelions at St Peters Cultural Heritage Centre Gallery for SALA (August 2023).
“This grant is a welcome boost to my practice at a crucial time, as I embark on my first solo exhibition. This support will remove some financial restraints and allow me to present an exhibition of high quality.” – Stephanie Doddridge
Our next funding round is just around the corner. Applications for our Creative Investment Fellowships opens Monday 17 July 2023.
Supported by:
Images: (1) Chris Siu, Wan Chai, Hong Kong, 2020, from Then We Keep Living Vol.1 (2) Crista Bradshaw, Site 1 (3) Jack Calver, Unfair Verona by Aiden Lombard (4) Kyle Davis, Dry Winter still, supplied (5) Nicky Tsz Tung Li, Signal A Theatrical Mixtape by Sam Wannan (6) Oakey Continuum 2021 by Steph Fuller (7) Sam Wilson by Alexander Aarao-Ward (8) Samantha Sharpli, still by Lucy Partington Photography (9) Samuel Matthewman, An Artist An Acrobat by BenPreston Photography (10) Stephanie Doddridge, In Symbiosis by Michael Haines Photography.