Three Australian artists awarded prestigious scholarships

Henry Jock Walker (SA), Helen Grogan (VIC) and Hannah Gartside (VIC) have been named the 2025 recipients of the Anne & Gordon Samstag International Visual Arts Scholarships. This prestigious program provides each artist with a transformative year-long study opportunity at an international art school of their choice, with $70,000 to cover institutional fees, living expenses and travel costs.

Erica Green, Director of the Samstag Museum of Art, which administers the program, emphasised the transformative impact of the scholarship, calling it “a life-changing professional opportunity.” Green notes, “It enables artists to develop their capacities, skill, and networks outside Australia through a dedicated period of practice-based learning.”

This year’s winners bring diverse approaches to contemporary art, spanning moving image, site-specific installation, textile-based kinetic sculptures, and socially engaged practice. The selection panel, which included Green, former Samstag scholars Michael Kutschbach and Dr. Megan Walch, praised each artist’s unique contributions and growth potential.

Walker’s work impressed with its vitality and integration of varied artistic practices. Grogan’s installations demonstrated conceptual rigour and precise spatial engagement, while Gartside’s textile sculptures bring playful, tactile energy rooted in theatrical costume-making. Gartside plans to study in the Netherlands, known for its textile heritage.

Since its inception in 1991, the Samstag Scholarship program has supported 151 artists, fostering new talent and helping alumni establish successful careers worldwide.