23 July 2024
The Helpmann Academy has awarded eight emerging creatives across various creative disciplines including visual and performance art, theatre, screen, and music with up to $3,000 each in support.
Our Creative Development Grants program extends crucial support to up-and-coming creatives, offering funds of up to $3,000 to kickstart new projects, facilitate research, develop new ideas and works, refine skills, engage in markets, and foster creative growth.
Congratulations to the following Helpmann Academy Creative Development Grant recipients!
Bailey Hall (University of Adelaide) is a drummer, composer-arranger, and educator based in Adelaide, Australia. He completed his Bachelor of Music (Jazz Performance) at the Elder Conservatorium of Music in 2022. He is currently performing original compositions with his band Autumn District, which featured as a COMA Emerging Artist in 2022 and has had numerous gigs alongside other jazz groups such as Sauce Code, 6ft Pelicans and 5 Sided Cube. Bailey will be using his grant towards recording a six-track EP with his band, Autumn District, and will be releasing it on all streaming platforms alongside an EP launch gig.
Famous Last Words is an independent theatre company specialising in showcasing emerging professional artists in South Australia. Under Co-Creative directors James Watson and Emilia Williams of Flinders University, and with support from the Helpmann Academy, the company has been a resident at Goodwood Theatre & Studios since 2023. Over the last year, they have presented two successful seasons of work including ‘Miss Julie’, ‘PROUD’, ‘4.48 Psychosis’, ‘The Maids’, and ‘Sky Red Morning’. Looking to push outside their boundaries and explore site-specific projects, Famous Last Words will be using their grant to stage a new ‘Uncle Vanya’ adaption at Carrick Hill. They will be repurposing the space to integrate the estate’s natural and architectural elements.
“We’re incredibly excited to embark on this project at Carrick Hill. Uncle Vanya will be a chance to diversify our practice and create space for new theatrical projects. Our ongoing relationship with Helpmann continues to help us grow as artists and create exciting collaborative opportunities with other emerging artists.”
Famous Last Words
Jasmine Warland (Flinders University) is an emerging actor and theatre-maker who graduated with a Bachelor of Creative Arts (Drama) in 2021. Having studied theatre practitioners and methodologies from industry professionals, she continues to work in movement, devising and developing new work including acting in motion capture animation and acting as a script consultant for Danielle Lim’s show, ‘Caught in Between’ (2024). The Creative Development Grant will help Jasmine take part in summer school at Arthaus Berlin, an internationally acclaimed post-graduate research and training facility located in Germany, where she will return with specific devising tools, focusing on the architecture of the body and environment.
Katey Smoker (University of South Australia) is an emerging contemporary artist living and working on Kaurna Yerta. Her practice spans sculpture, installation, and expanded painting with a focus on process-driven experimentation and material play. Over the past year, Katey has been casting acrylic paint into grid moulds, embracing the unpredictable and imperfect nature of the process to create a material that utilises the grid as a dynamic framework and the paint as a tool for sculpting texture and space. In 2024, Katey’s work was selected for the National Graduate Exhibition: Hatched 2024 and Forum at the Perth Institute of Contemporary Art (PICA), West Australia. The Creative Development Grant will assist Katey to attend the professional development program offered at PICA as part of the Hatched: National Graduate Exhibition.
Lucy Zola (University of South Australia) is a multi-disciplinary artist and musician from Adelaide, specialising in sonic art, ceramics, interactive digital art, and photography. Her current artistic focus highlights the often-overlooked beauty in the everyday sights and sounds, exploring the nocturnal realm and its connection to personal trauma, and reflecting on her experience of isolation due to managing a chronic illness throughout her life. Over the past 16 months, she has been on a New Columbo Plan Scholarship, studying and interning in South Korea, and completing artist residencies in Malaysia and Nepal. Currently, undertaking an artist residency at Po Leung Kuk in Hong Kong, she will use this grant to extend her residency and travel to Mongolia to undertake a residency at Mongolia International University.
OAKEY (Flinders University) is a multi-disciplinary artist based in Adelaide, whose practice spans sculpture, site-specific installations, performance, video and sounds. Her practice explores the interconnectedness of the living world and our relationship with it. Since completing her honours in 2020, OAKEY has received several awards, residencies and mentorships. Her ephemeral artwork ‘Reverence’ was awarded first prize at the Heysen Sculpture Biennial and featured in Artlink magazine and her third solo show, ‘Deep Rest’ at Hahndorf Academy gained significant interest and praise. Australian artist Jonathan Kim has invited OAKEY to undertake the International Artist residency at Mongolia International University in October 2024, this grant will assist in facilitating this initiative.
“I am deeply grateful to have received the Creative Development Grant from the Helpmann Academy. The funds will support my upcoming art residency in Mongolia. This incredible opportunity allows me to immerse myself in a unique cultural and natural environment, significantly enriching my artistic practice. The residency will enable me to explore new perspectives and techniques, ultimately enhancing the depth and breadth of my work. Thank you, Helpmann Academy, for your invaluable support in advancing my creative journey.”
OAKEY
Rotpunkt is an emerging independent theatre collective founded by Shant Becker, Franca Lafosse, Luke Furlan, and Lauren Jones. The collective came into being at the end of 2023 as the four members graduated from Flinders University with a Bachelor of Creative Arts (Drama). Individually the four members have worked as actors and producers on short films that have appeared in Monster Fest, Adelaide Film Festival and Flickerfest. Rotpunkt will be using their grant to facilitate and perform their debut theatre performance, a self-devised anti-fascist play ‘H’, at the Hall of Possibilities in September 2024.
“As artists seeking to make a lasting impact, having the opportunity to receive support enables us to make the work we want to make without compromising on the scope of our creative vision, as well as enabling us the chance to create work in the first place.”
Shant Becker
Tom Lawrence-Doyle is an emerging filmmaker who is passionate about telling honest Australian stories through a fresh lens. Operating in the space of impressionistic portraits of character and place, Tom’s drama films are inspired by his cinematic love of classic Australian and American realism. Tom wants to tell stories that are often left behind and he cares about engaging with actors deeply, having a skill in bringing out authentic performances. His debut short film, Bulldog (2023), is about two rural Australian Rules footballers who come to terms with their identities, developing a relationship within the harsh walls of a toxic footy club. This film premiered at the Adelaide Film Festival, and also played at the esteemed Flickerfest. Tom will be using the Creative Development Grant towards his upcoming surrealist road film, Road at the End of the World, later this year.
“We are so grateful for this opportunity as it will go a long way in broadening our creative possibilities. The funding specifically will allow for us to pay crew, and it will allow us access to film on the Nullarbor Plain, providing the means to capture a unique and distinct Australian landscape authentically.”
Tom Lawrence-Doyle
Our Creative Investment Fellowships are currently open – click here to learn more. Make sure you book a consultation with our Program Manager before you apply!
Creative Development Grants are made possible through the generosity of John Phillips and proudly supported by the Government of South Australia through Arts South Australia.
Image: Twelfth Night, 2018 (Dir. David Mealor). Jasmine Warland (left) as Maria and Dan Pitt (right) as Sir Toby Belch. Photo courtesy of artist.