The Amor Residency at Baldessin Press & Studio is offered to a visual artist wishing to explore works on paper, in particular printmaking, using research material from the State Library.

The residency may take place at any time within 2022, according to the recipient’s project and research plans, and includes accommodation, printmaking tuition or technical support, materials or editioning to the sum of $5000.

The recipient also has access to a desk space in a shared office at State Library Victoria for 12 months (January – December 2022), access to collections and staff expertise.

About Rick Amor & Baldessin Press

The 1971 bluestone Baldessin Studio is located in bushland 50 km from Melbourne and named in memory of its builder – artist, printmaker and sculptor George Baldessin (1939–78).

The Amor Residency at Baldessin Press & Studio is generously supported by artist Rick Amor and the Baldessin Press & Studio in St Andrews.

The $15,000 Berry Family Fellowship supports a project exploring an aspect of the social history of Melbourne or Victoria, based on the State Collection.

The Berry Family Fellow receives a grant of $15,000, access to a desk space in a shared office at State Library Victoria for 12 months (January – December 2022), access to collections and staff expertise.

Offered biennially, the Berry Family Fellowship commemorates the contribution of the Berry Family to the cultural life of Melbourne and Victoria.

The $15,000 Children’s Literature Fellowship is a specialist fellowship to support a project exploring aspects of children’s book publishing, writing or illustrating for early years, children and young adult fiction (0–18 years of age). Fellows can access more than 100,000 collection items for inspiration, including novels, illustrated fiction, picture books, graphic novels, poetry and traditional stories.

Fellows receive a grant of $15,000, access to a desk space in a shared office for 12 months (January – December 2022), access to collections and staff expertise.

This year the Library is offering two $15,000 Creative Fellowships, to provide artists and scholars with a unique and supportive environment in which to explore our collections. We invite recipients to be inspired by, repurpose, transform or imaginatively respond to published or original sources, including manuscripts, maps, music, newspapers, oral histories and rare printed material, in any way they choose.

Applications are welcome from individuals or collaborative partnerships practising in any art form – visual arts, new media, dance, musical performance or composition – and from writers and scholars in any discipline or subject.

Fellows receive a grant of $15,000, access to a desk space in a shared office for 12 months (January–December 2022), access to collections and staff expertise.

The $10,000 Georges Mora Fellowship gives one contemporary artist the opportunity to study, experiment and explore fresh thinking in their art.

The recipient is awarded $10,000 for up to 12 months’ research and given the means and uninterrupted time to work closely with the rich resources of the State Library, including access to a private study desk space in a shared office for 12 months (January – December 2022).

The successful applicant will also receive help applying for a self-identified local or international residency, as well as access to organisations and individuals with specialist knowledge to support them to research, experiment and create.

The Georges Mora Fellowship is awarded with funds generously donated by arts supporters and with the support of State Library Victoria, Alliance Française de Melbourne and other partners.

This year, as the Indigenous people of Victoria face the Treaty process, two dedicated Indigenous Fellowships are offered: the Indigenous Victorian Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Research Fellowship and the Indigenous Victorian Aboriginal Family History Fellowship.

These are specialist fellowships open to researchers who identify as Indigenous Victorian Aboriginal. They aim to increase Aboriginal Victorians’ access to cultural knowledge held in the Library’s collections, by supporting researchers to identify important items and produce research material to be used by the community.

The Library’s collections include significant primary evidence of the interactions between white settlers and Victoria’s Aboriginal communities since colonisation; documentation of Victorian Aboriginal people by anthropologists, colonial administrators and photographers; and cultural knowledge provided by the Ancestors.

The importance of access to this collection material for the Victorian Aboriginal community cannot be overstated. The material has breathed life into cultural renewal programs that are restoring a sense of place and engendering a healthy self-esteem, and it has the potential to do much more with the addition of the Indigenous Victorian Aboriginal Family History Fellowship – an opportunity to discover family connections and create a means of sharing these findings among the family networks. This responds to Native Title issues and Stolen Generations connections.

Fellows receive a grant of $15,000, access to a desk space in a shared office for 12 months (January – December 2022), access to collections and staff expertise.

The $15,000 La Trobe Society Fellowship gives an Australian historian, scholar or writer an opportunity to research Victoria’s colonial history during Lieutenant-Governor Charles La Trobe’s administration.

The research may be extended to cover the period immediately before La Trobe’s arrival in the colony, or the effects of his tenure as Superintendent and Lieutenant-Governor (1839–54) after his departure from Victoria.

The La Trobe Society Fellow receives a grant of $15,000, access to a desk space in a shared office for 12 months (January – December 2022), access to collections and staff expertise.

The recipient will be required to make a presentation to members of the La Trobe Society and others during or on completion of their fellowship, and to produce a work suitable for publication in the Society’s journal, La Trobeana.

In association with Regional Arts Victoria, two fellowships are available to regional Victorians to be inspired by, repurpose, transform or imaginatively respond to published or original source material from the Library’s extensive collection, in any way they choose, to create new work.

Applicants must reside in regional Victoria, with their postcode reflecting their residence in one of the 48 local government areas classified as ‘regional’ by the Victorian Government.

Read a list of these local government areas.

The fellowships carry a grant of $15,000, access to a desk space in a shared office for 12 months (January – December 2022), access to collections and staff expertise.

The Marion Orme Page Regional Fellowships in partnership with Regional Arts Victoria are supported by a generous donation from the Marion Orme Page bequest.

The Redmond Barry Fellowship offers writers and scholars the opportunity to use collections at the Library and the University of Melbourne to research a project in any discipline. This includes early career researchers and graduates.

The successful applicant receives up to $15,000, access to a desk space in a shared office for 12 months (January – December 2022), access to collections and staff expertise. Australian scholars and writers can apply.

The fellowship is jointly sponsored by the Library and the University of Melbourne, so research should make use of collections at both institutions. Projects that highlight linkages between the collections and promote new insights on the subject, material, or collections are encouraged, as is the production of a digital, creative, or literary work that can be openly shared and published in the University’s Repository.

The $15,000 Regional Fellowship offers two regional Victorian artists, writers or researchers the opportunity to create new work through repurposing, transforming or imaginatively responding to published or original source material from the Library’s extensive collections.

Applicants may be individuals or working in collaborative partnerships. They may include creatives practising in any art form – such as the visual arts, new media, dance, musical performance or composition – and writers and scholars in any discipline or subject.

Applicants must reside in regional Victoria, with their postcode reflecting their residence in one of the 48 local government areas classified as ‘regional’ by the Victorian Government.

Read a list of these local government areas.

Fellows receive a grant of $15,000, access to a desk space in a shared office for 12 months (January – December 2022), access to collections and staff expertise.

Regional Fellows can also receive support connecting to regional library services and accessing online collections from the Library. Projects that deliver outcomes in regional areas are highly desirable. 

The Library gratefully acknowledges support provided by Regional Arts Victoria.

The $15,000 Russell Beedles Performing Arts Fellowship is a specialist fellowship that supports a project exploring theatre and the performing arts in Victoria, drawing on the Library’s collections relating to scriptwriting and production, drama, opera, ballet, musical theatre, vaudeville, puppetry and magic, theatres, concert halls and venues, or festivals and events.

This biennial Fellowship carries a grant of $15,000, access to a desk space in a shared office for 12 months (January – December 2022), access to collections and staff expertise.

About Russell Beedles

Russell Beedles (1939–2011) was an award-winning playwright, performer and teacher across a range of creative and performing arts. He performed, directed and taught theatre, opera and drama, wrote plays and short stories, and taught students at school and tertiary level.

The Russell Beedles Performing Arts Fellowship has been endowed by the Russell Beedles bequest.

The Tate Adams Memorial Residency is offered to an artist to accomplish a limited edition or unique state artist’s book, using research from State Library Victoria and the studio facilities at Baldessin Press & Studio.

The Baldessin Press can supply studio access, accommodation and assistance to facilitate the book project in various ways, with a value of up to $5000 over a 12-month period.

About Tate Adams & Baldessin Press

Tate Adams AM (1922–2018) established the artist print department at RMIT in 1960 and championed printmaking throughout Australia. His students included George Baldessin.

Situated in bushland 50 km from Melbourne in St Andrews, the Baldessin Press & Studio is named in memory of artist, printmaker and sculptor George Baldessin (1939–78), who built the bluestone studio in 1971.