State Library Victoria Creative Fellowships

Since 2014, Baldessin Studio have worked with State Library Victoria to offer partnered creative fellowships to artists utilising the library’s collection and working within the scope of printmaking. What was originally known as the Amor Residency (now the Rick Amor Creative Fellowship) ran from 2014–2025 and supported the projects of 10 artists. In 2019, the Tate Adams Memorial Creative Fellowship commenced, which supports an artist each year in the research, development and making of an artists book.

Find more about the State Library Victoria Creative Fellowships here.

Image: 2024 Rick Amor Creative Fellow Tom Sevil and Marcus O’Donnell in conversation/artist talk during Subduction at the Print Council of Australia, March 14th, 2026

About the Tate Adams Memorial Creative Fellowship

What is the fellowship and who is it for?

A unique opportunity for artists to research, experiment and create with one of Australia’s great cultural collections.
The Baldessin Studio and the State Library Victoria invite applications for the Tate Adams Baldessin Studio State Library Creative Fellowship — a prestigious opportunity for a mid-career or established artist to develop new work through deep engagement with the Library’s extraordinary collections.

Named in honour of pioneering Australian printmaker Tate Adams, the fellowship supports artists interested in transforming research into creative work, it provides the space and support to develop ambitious new projects.

The recipient will produce a series of prints in the form of an artist book. The book could take on a wide variety of formats, experimentation with the genre is encouraged.

To be eligible artists should meet the NAVA definition of mid-career or established artist.

What Makes This Fellowship Special

Fellows will have the opportunity to:

  • Explore State Library Victoria’s varied collections

  • Work with the specialist printmaking facilities and expertise of Baldessin Studio

  • Develop a new creative project informed by archival materials

  • Share their work with public audiences through talks, exhibitions, workshops or other outcomes

Artists working across printmaking, artists books, visual art, interdisciplinary practice, and research-based art are encouraged to apply.

Who Should Apply

This fellowship is designed for a mid-career or established artist (NAVA Career stages elements) who wants dedicated time to develop a new body of work. It is ideal for artists who:

  • Work with research-based or archival practices

  • Experiment with artists book formats

  • Are interested in history, print culture, visual culture or cultural memory

  • Value the intersection of studio practice and scholarship

    Download Applicant Guide here
    Applications for the 2026 fellowship are now closed.

Fellowship at a Glance

What the fellow receives:

  • $15,000 Artist Support Payment (direct to artist)

  • $5,000 worth of in-kind studio access, accommodation and/or technical support at Baldessin Studio

  • 12 months access to the State Library Victoria collections, including an independent dedicated workspace for research

This fellowship offers artists the rare chance to combine studio practice, archival research and public engagement in a single project.

Fellowship Timeline

The residency can be undertaken any time between 1 August 2026 and 30 June 2027. The funding is equivalent of three months of work but the fellowship can be undertaken flexibly across the twelve-month period.

Key dates include:

  • Induction: 23rd – 24th July 2026 (Melbourne, in person)

  • Launch event: 4th August 2026

  • Participation in two fellowship cohort events

  • Mid-term presentation or report

  • Final public outcome such as a talk, exhibition, workshop or publication

About Tate Adams

Tate Adams AM (22nd January 1922 – 8th April 2018) was an Australian artist, and renowned printmaker, who was named a Member of the Order of Australia in 2009 for his service to publishing and to the arts, particularly through contributions to the development of printmaking in Australia.

Tate Adams AM started the artist print department at RMIT in 1960 and championed printmaking in Australia. He taught many prominent Australian printmakers, including George Baldessin.

The Tate Adams Residency at Baldessin Studio is generously supported by writer and critic Morag Fraser AM, Baldessin Studio and State Library Victoria.

Current Recipient

We are very pleased to announce Sophie Westerman as the recipient of the 2026 State Library Victoria 2026 Tate Adams Memorial Fellowship. 

Sophie’s project, ‘What Is Left’, will draw on the State Library’s collection of sketchbooks, photo albums and autograph books to develop a new artist book exploring the personal archive, memory and preservation.

We’d like to thank everyone who applied for this year’s fellowship – the quality and breadth of proposals made for a genuinely difficult selection process – and extend heartfelt thanks to the generous donors whose support makes these programs possible.

Image Credits:
2026 State Library Victoria fellows in La Trobe Reading Room. Credit: Eugene Hyland

Rick Amor Creative Fellowship Past Recipients

2026 –Dianna Wells
2024 –Tom Sevil
2023 – Nicholas Hubicki
2022 –Ry Haskings
2019 – Judith Martinez Estrada
2018 – Glen Skien
2017 – Kyoko Imazu
2016 – Ros Atkins
2015 – Nicola Stairmand
2014 – William Kelly

Tate Adams Memorial Creative Fellowship Past Recipients

2025 – Ella Mittas
2024 –Tom Sevil
2023 – Sorcha MacKenzie
2022 – Zo Damage
2019 – August Carpenter

Read more about our 2024 Creative Fellow Exhibition Subduction and our 2023 Creative Fellow Exhibition Spectre and Stem

(left) Sorcha McKenzie, Stygian Firmament I, multiplate polymer etching on Somerset, 56 x 76 cm.

(right) Nicholas Hubicki, Vitichiton, Forget What They Told You, 2024, photogravure on Canson edition

Opening night, 2023 Baldessin Studio SLV Fellows Sorcha Mackenzie AND Nicholas Hubicki

Spectre and Stem (Sorcha Mackenzie & Nicholas Hubicki), Print Council of Australia, February 26 - MARCH 7, 2026

Tess Edwards Baldessin (L) and fellow Sorcha Mackenzie (R)

Installation view of Subduction at the Print Council of Australia

2024 Fellow Perdita Phillips, explored rocks and the underground as ways to picture ‘deep time’.

Installation view of Subduction at the Print Council of Australia

2024 Fellow Tom Sevil explored colonial symbolism in early Australian print culture

Installation view of Subduction at the Print Council of Australia

2024 Baldessin Studio SLV Fellows Perdita Phillips and Tom Sevil
March 4th–27th, 2026