Each of this year’s winning artists, across the four categories of acting, painting, sculpture and singing, will receive a scholarship worth $20,000 to develop and enrich their careers through travel.

Perpetual received the highest ever number of applications for the scholarships this year, almost double the number of applications compared to the last round for these categories.

“With prudent investment management Perpetual has been able to award a record number of Marten Bequest Travelling Scholarships in 2015,” said Andrew Thomas, General Manager of Philanthropy at Perpetual.

First awarded in 1975, the Marten Bequest Travelling Scholarship program was established as a charitable trust by performing artist and author John Chisholm Marten to provide financial assistance to young artists.

“As well as being a musician, performer, dancer and accomplished writer, John Marten was at heart, a philanthropist,” Mr Thomas said.

“Some of our most celebrated figures within the arts community, including author Tim Winton and painter Wendy Sharpe, have benefitted from these scholarships.”

“As a trustee we know how much of an impact philanthropy can have on communities and we are delighted that more than 30 years after these scholarships were first announced, they are still having a positive impact on the lives of talented young artists today.”

The 2015 Marten Bequest Travelling Scholarships winners include:

Acting

Winners: Josh Price, Ildiko Susany, Duncan Ragg, Nicole Shostak, Eryn Jean Norvill, Nikki Shiels

Mr Price is planning to travel to the UK to undertake improvisation and movement skills workshops, while Ms Susany will seek an internship with a theatre company in New York. Mr Ragg and Ms Shostak share an interest in clowning and will travel to Chicago and Europe to study comedy. Ms Norvill will concentrate her energies in the US, studying long-form improvisation, while Ms Shiels has chosen to specialise in Shakespeare at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London.

Painting

Winners: Sean Crossley, Marc Freeman, Emily Hunt, Samuel Quinteros, Hayley Megan French, Tara Marynowsky

Mr Crossley will complete residencies in Europe and America, enhancing his skills in framing and mounting techniques and screen printing. Mr Freeman will carry out a residency in Beijing and pursue abstract style while integrating Asia-Pacific influences. Ms Hunt will pursue her interests in decorative painting on ceramics in Belgium and Berlin. Mr Quinteros will also travel to Belgium to study the canon of Western art followed by a residency in Tokyo. Ms French will embark upon a research trip to the East Kimberley, where she will study the painting practices of senior Gija artists. Ms Marynowsky will further her engagement with African American art and French symbolism by spending time with artists in Harlem, New York and Paris.

Sculpting

Winners: Paul Yore, Marley Dawson, Adelle Mills, Alice Couttoupes, Tully Arnot, Damien Butler

Mr Yore will travel across the USA for six months, undertaking research into American folk art and textiles. Mr Dawson will also spend an extensive period in America, including time in the studio with metal workers and carpenters, as will Ms Mills who will focus on the legacy of conceptualism. Ms Couttoupes will undertake a series of residencies and research trips to enhance her skills in sculptural ceramics. Mr Arnot will establish a studio with assistants in China and work in New Zealand for the first time. Mr Butler has accepted two residencies at the contemporary fine arts academy in Frankfurt, Germany.

Singing

Winners: Maximilian Riebl, Alexandra Flood, Elly Hoyt, Corinne Cowling, Hannah Dahlenburg

Mr Riebl will establish himself in Vienna to undertake intensive counter-tenor vocal study. Ms Flood will commence a Masters of Opera in Munich to enhance her vocal and acting technique. Ms Hoyt will study jazz voice intensively in Boston, USA for two years. Ms Cowling will pursue postgraduate study, travelling to Boston to complete a Masters of Music (Jazz Performance) and London to do the Guildhall Artist Masters in Performance (Vocal Studies) respectively. Ms Dahlenburg will relocate to Berlin to continue German language studies and audition for opportunities across Europe.

To view the announcements and hear from Perpetual’s General Manager of Philanthropy, Andrew Thomas, visit www.martenbequest.com.au

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Perpetual, as trustee, has announced Brian Castro, acclaimed novelist and essayist, as the 2014 winner of the Patrick White Literary Award.

Benefitting from the proceeds of the Trust of Patrick White’s 1973 Nobel Prize for Literature, Mr Castro will receive $24,000 in recognition of his outstanding contribution to Australian literature.

The Patrick White Literary Award was established by Mr White to advance Australian literature ‘by encouraging the writing of novels, short stories, poetry and/or plays for publication or performance’. For the past 41 years it has been bestowed to an author who has made an ongoing contribution to Australian literature, but may not have received due recognition.

Andrew Thomas, General Manager of Philanthropy at Perpetual, congratulated Mr Castro on his achievement.

“Brian Castro must be commended for his original and prolific contribution to Australian literary culture,” Mr Thomas said.

“His exciting and diverse body of work includes 10 novels, two radio plays, two stage plays, five short stories and a collection of essays on writing and culture.

“Patrick White continues to support our literary community by using the proceeds of his Nobel Prize and is renowned as the first and only Australian who received this honour for literature. As trustee, Perpetual is proud to continue Mr White’s great legacy and the tradition of philanthropic support for the arts through this award.”

Brian Castro was born in Hong Kong in 1950 to parents of Portuguese, Chinese and English descent and was sent to boarding school in Australia at the age of 10. His early childhood experience of the fluidity and range of language has significantly influenced his writing. Throughout his writing career, Mr Castro has explored questions of identity, race, lineage and hybridity using a distinctive provocative and playful style. Mr Castro is recognised as sharing similar qualities in his writing to Patrick White and in 2007 he published an essay, Twice Born, in which he paid homage to the Nobel Prize winner.

Reflecting on the unique quality of the Award and Patrick White as author and benefactor, Mr Castro said: “As others have noted, this is an award by a writer for other writers. I cannot think of another Nobel winner who left this kind of legacy. It is not a prize for which you can apply, as it acknowledges a body of work rather than a single publication. It takes in the larger view, and is not about long-lists, short-lists, betting-lists and gossip-lists. I am proud to be amongst such great company as past winners Christina Stead, Randolph Stow and Thea Astley.”

Describing the many merits of Mr Castro’s body of work, the 2014 judging panel said: “His continued willingness to take imaginative risks and be ‘blackly playful’, and his evident potential to produce more significant work make him an excellent recipient of this most prestigious award.”

The 2014 judging panel members included Professor David Carter, Associate Professor Debra Adelaide, and Dr Bernadette Brennan.

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Andrew Thomas

Perpetual has launched IMPACT Philanthropy which combines a strategic approach with sustained support for philanthropists and not-for-profit (NFP) organisations to help provide maximum community benefit.

Perpetual’s General Manager of Philanthropy, Andrew Thomas, said IMPACT Philanthropy reinforces what philanthropists know all too well that every investment in philanthropy is about making a tangible difference.

“Impact has long been the central theme of Perpetual’s approach to working with philanthropists and partnering with the NFP sector, and IMPACT Philanthropy is about embedding that in everything we do,” Mr Thomas said.

“Perpetual shares with its clients and NFP partners a deep commitment to contributing to the community and a passion for giving in a way that creates an impact.”

Nearly a year after the acquisition of The Trust Company, IMPACT Philanthropy brings together the best thinking from both businesses. Perpetual is one of the largest managers and distributors of philanthropic funds in Australia and in 2014 distributed more than $83 million on behalf of the 990 charitable trusts and endowments it manages.

Perpetual’s commitment to IMPACT Philanthropy means continuing to support philanthropists in sourcing and funding organisations that invest in both their longevity and in outcomes for the communities in which they operate. This means providing tools and resources to help them create enduring legacies both within their lifetime and via their estate.

The IMPACT Philanthropy announcement comes at the same time as applications for funding have opened through Perpetual’s 2015 IMPACT Philanthropy Application Program. The grant making and funding assessment process identifies the optimal match between a philanthropist and an NFP organisation which has consistently demonstrated excellence.

“One of our fundamental beliefs is that NFP organisations know far better than we do where they need funds and support so therefore we don’t tell applicants what they should or shouldn’t apply for,” Mr Thomas said.

As an extension of the funding program, for the first time this year, Perpetual will be providing a limited number of organisations with grants worth up to $1 million each. Perpetual will identify NFPs which have consistently performed well against its assessment criteria during the past three years of the general application process and invite them to apply for the grants. These organisations can apply for funding to support whatever resources they need in order to have an impact.

“Through IMPACT Philanthropy we are looking for organisations which can clearly articulate their community impact in order to provide greater community outcomes,” Mr Thomas said.

In addition to providing increased opportunities for philanthropists to collaborate and fund common causes, Perpetual is also committed to investing in the growth of the sector through IMPACT Philanthropy. This includes providing NFPs with ongoing support for governance through its scholarship program with the Australian Institute of Company Directors, commissioning research, and providing advice on financial governance and investment management.

For more information about the 2015 IMPACT Philanthropy Application Program visit http://www.perpetual.com.au/fundingopportunities

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