2025 Recipient
Anna Mould, NAS MFA 2023, BFA 2021
The Prudence MacLeod Prize
The Prudence MacLeod Prize
A six-month studio residency program in London for a National Art School graduate.
Application deadline Sunday July 21, 2024
Residency dates Monday 3 February – Friday 25 July 2025
Residency
With support from the Lansdowne Foundation, NAS is launching a pilot program that supports an emerging Australian artist to undertake a six month residency at Acme’s Fire Station studios in London. Acme will provide work/live studio accommodation and a program of support and professional development for a NAS alumni artist. Resident artists are expected to contribute to the program and the artist community, and to deliver a small-scale public outcome at the end of the residency, with the support of Acme and within the budget allocated.
This opportunity is designed to support an emerging artist at a vital time in their career, providing a step forward into an expanded, international context. The artist will live and work in London, one of the world’s great art cities, in a supportive artist community. This important opportunity will enable the artist to forge professional international contacts, explore London’s art world and rich cultural resources, and produce a new body of work.
The recipient of this Prize will receive:
- Return travel to London. To be arranged for the artist by NAS International Residencies Coordinator.
- Accommodation and studio at Acme Studios London for six months.
- Living stipend of $AUD3500 per month for six months. Total $AUD21,000 for six months.
Acme
London-based charity Acme has been supporting artists in need since 1972. Acme’s affordable studio provision helps artists sustain their practices, while their additional support looks to help artists make career-changing breakthroughs at pivotal moments in their careers.
Working with a range of international and UK-based partners and donors, Acme supports professional development for artists at all stages of their careers through artist residencies, awards and bursaries. Each residency artist is met by an Artist Support Officer and given an induction tour of their residence and surrounding area. A video call will be arranged in advance of the artist’s arrival so a support program can be tailored to the individual’s needs.
Eligibility
- NAS alumni: Graduate of either Bachelor of Fine Art, Bachelor of Fine Art (Hons), Master of Fine Art, or Doctor of Fine Art. Applicants must have graduated within the past 5 years.
- Applicant must be an Australian citizen or Australian resident and able to comply with any visa requirements.
- Applicant warrants that they are available to undertake the residency for six months from February to July 2025 and will be prepared to present a small scale public outcome at the end of the residency, with the support of Acme and within the budget allocated. Please note that the dates of the six-month residency are not negotiable.
Selection Criteria
The Residency will be awarded to an applicant who:
- Has displayed a high level of achievement and dedication in their practice since graduation.
- Demonstrates clarity of purpose and a compelling rationale for their proposed residency.
- In the opinion of the judges would benefit artistically and professionally from the award at this stage of their career.
Applications
- To be considered for selection, applicants must submit all parts of the online application form, together with required application materials, by the deadline.
- Eligible applications will be considered by a selection panel comprising suitable representatives of the National Art School.
- Shortlisted candidates will be invited to attend an interview at the National Art School.
Application Requirements
Proposal
- Artist Statement summarising current practice (no more than 500 words).
- Rationale for undertaking the London-based residency at Acme (no more than 500 words).
- Identify any specific requirements (e.g. access, workshops, OH&S, etc.).
CV and Images
- A summary CV (of not more than two pages) in PDF format.
- A maximum of 10 images, presented in PDF format, with only one image per slide. Each slide should include the name of artist, title, date, medium, and dimensions: For moving image-based artists only, 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.
Referees
- All applicants are required to state the names, addresses, phone numbers and email addresses of two referees.
Conditions of Entry
- Applicants must abide by all the regulations of the award.
- The selectors’ decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into.
- The successful applicant must strictly agree to abide by the conditions of residence at Acme.
- The selectors reserve the right to withhold the award if in their opinion the standard of applications is insufficient to warrant awarding.
- The selected applicant will be required to maintain communication with the Residency Coordinator during the residency, and provide a 3-month report.
Acquittal of residency
Post- residency, the selected applicants will be required to:
- Take part in a lecture or panel discussion about the residency to students and alumni in 2025, where they will speak for approximately 45 minutes about their residency, to a PowerPoint presentation.
- Provide high-resolution photographs and a quote of approximately 200 words that can be used by NAS and the Lansdowne Foundation for promotional purposes and in publications including the Annual Report and Yearbook.
- Submit an approximately 1000-word report no later than eight weeks post-residency regarding their residency, experience and project.
Applications are now closed for 2025 residencies
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.
Art Club is our high school student program for 15-17 year olds, designed to enhance and extend students’ technical, conceptual, and intellectual skills, through intensive practical study in the disciplines offered at NAS as well as engaging in an experience of our studios and campus, under the expert direction of experienced artists.
Set your child on a creative path with Art Club.
Learn more at the link in bio.
Apr 15
Thank you to everyone who attended the opening night of the 24th Dobell Drawing Prize and congratulations again to the prize winner NAS alumna Rosemary Lee.
The 24th Dobell Drawing Prize is now open until Saturday 21 June 2025
11am – 5pm Monday to Saturday
NAS Gallery
Free admission, all welcome
Learn more about the exhibition at the link in bio.
Apr 11
We are delighted to announce NAS alumna Rosemary Lee as the winner of the 24th Dobell Drawing Prize, Australia’s leading prize for drawing, worth $30,000.
Selected from 56 nationwide finalists, and 965 entries, Rosemary’s work will become part of the National Art School’s significant collection, built over the past 120 years. Rosemary, in her winning work 24-1 (2024), observes tonal and compositional profundity in everyday life.
The judging panel comprising acclaimed First Nations artist Vernon Ah Kee, Paula Latos-Valier AM, Trustee and Art Director of the Sir William Dobell Art Foundation, and Dr Yolunda Hickman, Head of Postgraduate Studies, National Art School, commented of Rosemary’s work: “The decision to award the 24th Dobell Drawing Prize to Rosemary Lee for the work ‘24-1’ was unanimous. We were most impressed by the level of visual intensity the artist has achieved in this work both through its vibrant colour and in the extraordinary detail of the composition. The artwork’s exploration of the urban landscape and gentrification of the Sydney suburbs of Ashfield and Summer Hill, has produced an image capturing a broader sense of transience and the omnipresence of construction sites in our cities today. It questions the cultural and historical value of place, through the lens of the artist’s personal connection.”
See Lee’s work alongside the work of the other finalists in the 24th Dobell Drawing Prize, 11 April – 21 June 2025, NAS Gallery
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Left to right: NAS Director and CEO, Dr Kristen Sharp with artist Rosemary Lee, featuring winning artwork 24–1, 2024, pencil on paper, image courtesy the artist and National Art School Gallery © the artist, photograph: Peter Morgan
Apr 10
Introducing the National Art School Short Courses Program from July–December 2025
Whether you’re a beginner, rediscovering a past passion, refining your skills, or considering our Fine Arts degree, the short courses offer a stimulating and rewarding experience for all levels.
Our 2025 program begins in July with Winter School, followed by Term Three, Spring Weekend Workshops in September, and Term Four in October.
Learn more and enrol at the link in bio.
Apr 10
Making Sound is a performance event featuring four artists who make devices that make sound, including Gary Warner, Pia van Gelder, Ben Denham and Sean O’Connell, presented following Facture: Drawing Symposium 2025, Saturday 12 April 5-6pm.
Gary Warner creates an improvised soundfield with his ‘aleatoric ensemble’ autonomous sound machines, a collection of modified turntables that spin ad-hoc bric-a-brac assemblages.
Pia van Gelder (pictured) amplifies an electronic circuit as it is built in real-time. Under the moniker of “PvG sans PCB,” in these performances, van Gelder works on a breadboard with electronic components and additional found objects to demonstrate the electronic variabilities produced in the material world.
Ben Denham and Sean O’Connell perform together with handmade synthesizer systems that sense and sonify barometric pressure and the flow of electrons through matter.
Purchase your tickets to the symposium at the link in bio.
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Pia van Gelder, `sans PCB`, 2021, performance, Collings Creative, image courtesy and © the artist
Apr 6
Passionate about collections and the arts? Join us as a Digitisation Volunteer!
The National Art School Archive and Collection team is looking for enthusiastic Digitisation Volunteers to help bring our art collection to life! Your work will play a key role in making art and history more accessible—by photographing and recording our collections, enhancing our museum database, and digitising our extensive archive of photographs. Through your efforts, every stored object and artwork in our collection will have a high-quality, searchable digital record for generations to come.
Apply at the link in bio.
Apr 2
