Residency dates for 2026 coming soon.
The British School At Rome
2025 Recipient
Jelena Telecki, NAS BFA 2005, Sessional Painting Lecturer
The British School At Rome
A three-month residency in an interdisciplinary research community.
Application Deadline June 30, 2024
Notification of Outcome July 31, 2024
Residency Dates April 2 – June 26, 2025
Residency
This residency offers artists the opportunity to live and work in Rome for 3 months, in an interdisciplinary research community. The British School at Rome is a centre of interdisciplinary research excellence in the Mediterranean supporting the full range of arts, humanities and social sciences, and the residency has been made possible through the generosity of our donors, particularly Jennifer Dowling. The British School at Rome is just north of Rome’s historic centre in the Valle Giulia which separates the Parioli district from the Borghese Gardens.
The successful applicant will receive studio accommodation (including meals) with the British School at Rome for a period of three months: 2 April – 26 June 2025 and inclusion in the BSR’s annual fine art catalogue.
Check out this Interview with 2024 BSR resident Harry de Vries.
Eligibility
- Recent National Art School MFA or DFA graduates (graduating in the previous 5 years) OR
- Staff of the National Art School (including Sessional staff), AND
- Applicants must be an Australian citizen or Australian resident and able to comply with any visa requirements.
Please note:
- The successful applicant will be required to fund and arrange any associated travel to and from Rome and will be responsible for any incidental costs including studio materials.
- If the successful applicant is a permanent staff member, appropriate leave arrangements will need to be considered.
- Only applications that are fully completed and received by the deadline will be considered.
Selection Criteria
The Residency will be awarded to an applicant who:
- Has displayed a high level of achievement and dedication in their practice,
- Demonstrates clarity of purpose and a compelling rationale for their proposed residency, and
- In the opinion of the judges would benefit artistically and professionally from the residency at this stage of their career.
Application Materials
As part of your application, you are required to upload the documents listed below. Uploaded files should include your full name in the file name.
Please include the following documents:
- Your Proposal (PDF format) addressing the following areas.
- Artist Statement summarising current practice (no more than 500 words)
- Rationale for undertaking the residency at British School at Rome (no more than 250 words)
- Please identify any specific requirements (e.g. access, workshops, OH&S, etc.)
- A Summary CV outlining your professional profile and achievement (PDF format, 2 pages max.)
- A maximum of 10 Images (PowerPoint format, 1MB image per page). Please note:
- The PowerPoint should be saved as a .ppt not .pdf.
- Each slide should include the artist’s name, title, date, medium and dimensions.
- Moving image-based artists can present a high-quality video of up to two minutes presented as a single-track show reel.
The panel reserves the right to not assess applications that do not include specified supporting material correctly formatted as outlined above.
Selection Panel
All applications will be considered by a selection panel comprising suitable representatives of the National Art School. The panel may request to meet with an applicant to discuss their application.
Conditions of Entry
- Applicants must abide by all the regulations of the award and agree to abide by the conditions of residence at the BSR
- Applicant warrants that they are available to undertake the residency for three months from April to June 2025 and are willing to fund and organize their own travel arrangements.
- The selectors’ decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into
- The selectors reserve the right to withhold the award if in their opinion the standard of applications is insufficient to warrant awarding
Acquittal of Residency
The selected applicants will be required to:
- Submit an approximately 1000 word report no later than eight weeks post-residency regarding their residency, experience and project.
- Provide high-resolution photographs and a quote of approximately 200 words that can be used by NAS for promotional purposes and in publications including the Annual Report and Yearbook.
- Make a public presentation to the NAS community about their residency experience and outcomes (dates tbc).
Applications are now closed for 2025 residencies
FAQ
Australian passport holders can generally travel visa-free in the Schengen Area, which includes Italy, for up to 90 days in a 180-day period.
https://www.smartraveller.gov.au/before-you-go/the-basics/schengen
https://conssydney.esteri.it/en/servizi-consolari-e-visti/servizi-per-il-cittadino-straniero/visti/
Upon entering Italy, border authorities may require that you show documentation to justify the reasons for and the duration of your stay in Italy. Your passport must be valid for at least three months after the intended date of departure from the Schengen Area.
The National Art School does not advise on visas and encourages you to confer with the appropriate embassy or consulate.
A furnished live/work studio with en-suite bathroom. Breakfast is provided every day, as well as lunch and dinner from Monday to Friday in the dining room. There are also library, laundry, kitchen and recreational facilities available.
Travel insurance is essential, including medical and repatriation costs and expenses in the event of death. Coverage of €30,000 minimum is required, including medical repatriation, and emergency and/or hospital treatment. This will also need to cover all personal belongings and materials.
The artist’s partner can be accommodated by prior agreement for limited periods during the residency but must pay for their board and lodging at the BSR’s prevailing rates. Children unfortunately cannot be accommodated in the residential studios.
Costs to consider:
- Travel insurance
- Flights
- Art materials & production costs
- Laundry
- Transport
- Recreational activities
- Dining
As a rough guide, this can cost between of $5,000 to $10,000 AUD for 3 months in a foreign country.
- NAS Professional Practice Grants for Academic Staff Development
Three grant rounds each year for NAS Academic Staff Development funds (approx. May, August and November), generally $1500-$3000.
The NSW Government’s arts and cultural driver with grants for professional & skills development for individuals
Grants up to $15,000 to support emerging and early-career artists in taking up professional development opportunities, usually overseas. There are generally 2 Funding Rounds each year.
Australia’s official arts council offering funding for Arts Projects for Individuals and Groups up to $50,000 for a range of activities and projects across all art forms.
CONTACT
Lily Fenwicke
International Residencies Coordinator
+61 2 9339 8717
[email protected]
We encourage all eligible candidates to apply, regardless of whether this is your first residency application. Please contact the International Residencies Coordinator to discuss any accessibility requirements or adjustments that can be made to your application process.
‘Queer Contemporary: Chaosophy’, as part of Mardi Gras 2025, is now open until Saturday 8 March.
Curated by Dr Liz Bradshaw, with work by artists Kika Kereru Baker, Daniel Browning, Sam Chan, Blake Griffiths, Frankie L.A, nikita lelu, r e a, Victoria Spence, Jake Starr, Ali Tahayori, Magic Young and Justine Youssef.
Three generations of queer artists make and break language across the intersections of art, activism, poetry and performance. Through their individual aesthetics and distinct voices, together the artists disrupt histories, languages, conventional silences and institutional spaces, using and queering language to propose alternate perspectives on and interpretations of identity and ways of being.
11am – 5pm Monday to Saturday
Building 25 Project Space
Free admission, all welcome
Feb 17
NAS Library is proud to launch their 2025 Library Stairwell Gallery programming with this years LSG show for Queer Contemporary, ‘Subtexts’, opening this Thursday 13 February.
‘Subtexts’ unites four artists whose work demonstrates the complexities of queer identity, each considering their own personal relationship with queerness. The show offers alternative narratives and styles that challenge notions of queer uniformity, opting to explore the undertones and implications of queerness as a dislocated front.
‘Subtexts’ asks of the ambiguous term; Are we united by virtue of our difference, or rather the unique positions it presents us?
Featuring works by
@professional__disoppointment
@sarah_r_serfati
@theolathouras
@ziggywoodartist
Feb 9
Three generations of queer artists make and break language across the intersections of art, activism, poetry and performance in ‘Queer Contemporary: Chaosophy’, as part of Mardi Gras 2025.
Through their individual aesthetics and distinct voices, together the artists disrupt histories, languages, conventional silences and institutional spaces, using and queering language to propose alternate perspectives on and interpretations of identity and ways of being.
Opening night Thursday 13 February, with special guests Swamp Daisies.
RSVP at link in the bio.
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Sam Chan, ‘Transfiguration’, 2024, Chillagoe White Pearl marble, mild steel, incense, image courtesy and © the artist, photograph: Jennifer Leahy (Silversalt)
Ali Tahayori, ’The four elements: fire, earth, water, air (detail)’, 2022, hand cut mirrors plaster on wood, image courtesy and © the artist, photograph: Daniel Kukec Photography
nikita lelu, ’I drip into a bath and drift’, 2024, glazed mid-fire paperclay, underglaze, terra sigillata, silver, image courtesy and © the artist, photograph: Jennifer Leahy (Silversalt Photography)
Magic Young, ‘Evulva’, 2024, nylon, image courtesy and © the artist, photograph: Jennifer Leahy (Silversalt)
Feb 6
We’re looking for an Exhibitions Project Officer!
The role has a focus on major Indigenous exhibition projects currently in development for the National Art School as well as touring programs. The role assists with the delivery and coordination of Gallery programs, talks, and other events in the gallery spaces.
You have a background in visual art, art history, curatorship and gallery experience. You have excellent interpersonal and communication skills, along with strong organisational and project management experience.
Note this is an Identified Role and is open to Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander applicants only, in accordance with Section 14(D) of the NSW Anti-Discrimination Act, 1977 NSW.
Application deadline extended to Sunday 9 February.
Apply at the link in bio.
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Ronan Pirozzi, `Serpentine`, 2023; `Trajectory`, 2023; `Desolate`, 2023; installation view, undo the day, NAS Gallery, Sydney, 2024, oil on welded steel, image courtesy and © the artist, photograph: Zan Wimberley
Feb 2
The National Art School has today announced respected Australian academic, writer and curator Dr Kristen Sharp as the next Director and Chief Executive Officer.
Kristen joins the National Art School with extensive experience in the fields of contemporary art and tertiary education having spent six years as Associate Dean Discipline, Art in the School of Art at RMIT University, and previously 9 years as Academic Lead Art History and Theory at RMIT. She will commence her new role at the National Art School on 24th February 2025.
Read the full media release at the link in bio.
Jan 30
