The Jane Fitzherbert Memorial Residency
Applications for this opportunity are by invitation only.
The Jane Fitzherbert Memorial Residency is designed to support an emerging artist in the development of a new body of printmaking work, to deepen their practice and enable them to engage with their local creative community. This supported residency is generously enabled by sales of the work of the late artist Jane Fitzherbert, and is offered by the Baldessin Studio in partnership with her daughters.
This is a unique opportunity available to an emerging artist who has explored, or is currently exploring, printmaking processes in their art practice.
Images above: Jane Fitzherbert and examples of her painting style, shared with the kind permission of her family to honour her artistic legacy.
Artist’s Brief
The Jane Fitzherbert Memorial Residency provides an opportunity for an emerging artist to work in an inspiring environment outside of their everyday routines. This opportunity encourages the exploration of new ideas, development of technical skills, and creation or planning of new work. While there is no prescribed outcome, participants are asked to:
• document some of the work produced during their residency
• provide a short, written reflection on their experience and the outcome that may be shared via our newsletter and on social media and our website.
Emerging printmakers, and visual artists who use printmaking processes in their art practice, are eligible to apply.
The Jane Fitzherbert Memorial Residency provides in-kind support to the value of $4000 through access to Baldessin Studio’s facilities, equipment, tuition and technical expertise over a 12-month period.
Inclusions may cover:
• induction into the studio
• the use of ink
• specialist technical assistance
• attendance at a two-day workshop of the participant’s choice, subject to availability and scheduling
• creative support and mentorship
• promotion of the artist’s work through Baldessin Studio’s social media, website and newsletters.
Up to 10% of this in-kind support may be allocated towards materials (i.e. a total of $400).
The candidate may choose any of the above studio offerings to the value of $4000 within the allocated 12-month period.
About Jane Fitzherbert
Jane Fitzherbert was a well-known Yarra Valley artist whose practice combined abstraction with recognisable elements that encouraged viewers to interpret her work in their own way.
“I like people to find their own meanings in my work; there is no ‘right’ way to see my paintings,” she would say.
Jane’s paintings continue to be exhibited and sold through galleries and wineries throughout the Yarra Valley, and her family intends to dedicate the proceeds to sustaining her legacy. Today this commitment takes shape through the inaugural Jane Fitzherbert Memorial Residency, offered in partnership with the Baldessin Press & Studio in St Andrews, Victoria.
Jane was deeply aware of the financial challenges faced by young and emerging artists – from the cost of materials and equipment to the difficulty of finding mentors and building recognition within the artistic community. This residency reflects her generous spirit, ensuring that the artists chosen have the support and resources they need to build their practice.
Past Recipients
2026 Stephanie Mortlock
www.stephaniemortlock.com
www.instagram.com/leaflovinart
Stephanie Mortlock is a visual artist working on unceded Wurundjeri Country in North Warrandyte. Using pencil, watercolour, oil, and acrylic, Stephanies’s work conveys their long held and sensitive relationship with the environmental systems in their surroundings.
‘My recent work depicts local Indigenous plants, particularly rare orchids, examining their unique evolutionary relationships and the conservation efforts being initiated to protect them. I am now undertaking a printmaking residency with Baldessin Studio, delving into etching techniques to continue my depictions of orchids and local bushland, as well as exploring memories of nature held as personally sacred.’ – Stephanie Mortlock
