Council offering $5000 to help foster emerging talent

Studying the arts also usually involves studying away from home and a host of associated expenses.

To help encourage our region’s future creatives to follow their dreams, council is offering three exciting bursaries for visual and performing arts students.

In total, $5000 is up for grabs.

Two bursaries are available for visual and creative arts students – the $1000 Rick Wood Bursary and the $3000 Artspace Mackay Foundation Bursary.

The MECC’s $1000 Jack Sturgeon Bursary is for performing arts students who have been accepted into tertiary studies in any aspect of the performing arts.

Mayor Greg Williamson said studying arts degrees far from home was a huge step that took courage.

“For a young person to follow their dreams and embark on a tertiary degree to further their skills and hopefully turn their passion into a career takes courage – and it’s not cheap,” Mayor Williamson said.

“With these three bursaries offered by the MECC and Artspace Mackay, council is proud to be able to provide some support to offset rising costs.

“Of course, we love seeing Mackay people succeed and when they go on to do tremendous things on the national and international stage, the whole community feels a great deal of pride in their success.

“The 2020 Artspace bursary recipient Dylan Mooney is a great example of a young Mackay artist who has followed his passion and is now representing the region, and the Yuwi and Australian South Sea Islander people, on the world stage.

“Dylan was recently commissioned by Google to create an artwork on its homepage, he was the featured artist for the 2021 Mardi Gras and has completed murals for Brisbane City Council and QPAC.”

Artspace Mackay’s $1000 Rick Wood Bursary honours the memory of the late Rick Wood, a celebrated Mackay potter and is for school graduates applying to study visual or creative arts.

The MECC’s $1000 bursary, which is named in honour of the co-founder of the Mackay Musical Comedy Players and life-long supporter of the arts, Jack Sturgeon, is also for school graduates applying to study performing arts.

MECC and Events manager Andrew Bobeldyk said the Jack Sturgeon Bursary for performing arts celebrated 20 years in 2021.

“This is a great bursary, because it’s not just for those who dream of seeing themselves on centre stage, but also for those looking at careers backstage or in production,” Mr Bobeldyk said.

“Whether you’re a performing artist in music, theatre, dance, comedy, cabaret or you have a passion for the technical aspects of theatre, this bursary is open to you,” he said.

Lastly, the Artspace Mackay Foundation Bursary is a $3000 bursary for tertiary students currently studying visual or creative arts.

Artspace director Tracey Heathwood said this bursary was geared towards visual arts students looking to take their tertiary study to the next level.

“For example, previous bursary recipient fashion designer Tristan Kane, used his bursary funds to spend a month touring India, learning about woven textiles and working with local artisans,” Ms Heathwood said.

Both bursaries are now open and applications close Tuesday, December 7, 2021.

For terms and conditions and to apply for the Rick Wood or Artspace Mackay Foundation Bursaries, head to the Artspace Mackay website.

For terms and conditions and to apply for the Jack Sturgeon Bursary, head to the MECC website.