Indigenous Scholarships
The American-Australian Arts Fund provides support of up to USD $10,000 to emerging Native American, Alaskan Native, Native Hawaiian, Aboriginal Australian and Torres Strait Islander artists to study or undertake artistic development in each other’s countries respectively. The American Australian Association has overall awarded more than 630 grants totaling over USD $2 million to talented emerging artists since establishing the scholarship program in 2002.
The following opportunities are specifically available to emerging Native American, Alaskan Native, Native Hawaiian, Aboriginal Australian and Torres Strait Islander artists in the fields of theatre, film, television, dance, music, visual arts, craft, design, literature, and photography.
- Indigenous Arts Grant – Both Rounds (AUS to USA and USA to AUS): Will support one Aboriginal Australian or Torres Strait Islander undertaking or planning to undertake artistic development in an art field in the United States, and one Native American, Alaskan Native, or Native Hawaiian to undertake development in Australia. This scholarship will provide up to USD $10,000 of support, which may be used toward travel, tuition, living expenses, and other associated artistic development costs.
- Arts Fund – Both Rounds: Will support Aboriginal Australian, Torres Strait Islander, Native American, Alaskan Native and Native Hawaiian artists undertaking or planning to undertake artistic development in any art field, in the country of the other. These grants will provide support of up to USD $5,000, which may be used toward travel, tuition, living expenses, and other associated artistic development costs.
Submission Period
Round 2: Open for applications from August 1 to September 30.
Eligibility Requirements
To be eligible to apply to the Indigenous Arts Scholarships in the Australia to USA direction, applicants must:
- Be an Australian citizen or permanent resident (dual citizens are not eligible);
- Be a recognized member of an Indigenous Australian or Torres Strait Islander community;
- Be undertaking or planning to undertake artistic development in the United States;
- Have a formal offer into the course/project in the United States;
- No more than 75% through your course/project if already in the United States.
To be eligible to apply to the Indigenous Arts Scholarships in the USA to Australia direction, applicants must:
- Be an American citizen or permanent resident (dual citizens are not eligible);
- Be a recognized member of a Native American, Alaskan Native or Native Hawaiian community;
- Be undertaking or planning to undertake artistic development in Australia;
- Have a formal offer into the course/project in Australia;
- No more than 75% through your course/project if already in Australia.
Application links to apply online will be made available on this page when each application round is open (as per the dates listed above). Once you have started your application you can save, leave and go back any time before submitting by the due date. Please ensure to save your application each time you exit the browser in case of unforeseen technical difficulties.
The following documents will be required when applying to the Indigenous Arts Scholarships in either direction. All documents that are not images/video should be saved and uploaded as a PDF:
- High resolution colored headshot with a plain white background (minimum 1MB/300 DPI);
- Video presentation (1-2 minutes) introducing yourself and your artistic development in the country of the other;
- Passport biographic page;
- Confirmation of Identity from Indigenous community;
- Academic transcripts from your previous Graduate and/or Undergraduate study (if applicable);
- 1-page resume;
- Supporting materials such as a portfolio or videos, images, links, articles, etc., and;
- Detailed budget outlining expenses and income throughout the year of supported study – please use the Arts Fund and Grants Budget Template as a guide. This is available to download in the application portal.
Applicants are also required to provide 3 Letters of Recommendation.
For further information please visit the American Australian Association scholarships FAQs page.
Please read our Frequently Asked Questions prior to starting an application.
Inquiries
To make inquiries about these scholarships please contact our Education Team at [email protected] | +1 212 338 6860 x 205.