QCA Graduate secures ArtStart Grant

Queensland College of Art graduate, Audrey Lam has been awarded a highly contested ArtStart Grant.

ArtStart provides up to $10,000 to recent creative arts graduates who are committed to establishing a career as a professional artist. Over 400 artists including jewellers, writers, musicians, theatre directors, circus performers and more have already received ArtStart support and used it to build the foundations of a sustainable career.

The ArtStart grant supports smart, articulate and creative strategies from entrepreneurial emerging artists.

In the past they have helped a multimedia artist gain accreditation in electrical tagging and testing, which has massively reduced his overheads for years to come.  He combined this with funding a new website, some travel for key networking opportunities and investing in new business systems such as MYOB accounting software. This is just one example of how an ArtStart grant can assist you in establishing yourself as a professional artist.

Even if  graduates don’t receive the grant (many do not on their first attempt) the effort and thinking taken to put together an application helps to set them up for a sustainable arts career and gets them thinking strategically about where they would like to go after they complete their training.

There are two ArtStart grant rounds in 2012.

Round 1 : 2 March 2012

Decisions advised: June 2012

Round 2: 20 September 2012

Decisions advised:  December 2012

For recipient profiles, application tips and other opportunities for funding for early career artists, visit: http://www.artstartgrant.com.au/Video