The Veolia Mulwaree Trust has recognised the work of three local artists by awarding each a 2024 Veolia Creative Arts Scholarship of $4000 to further their artistic aspirations.
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Receiving Veolia Creative Arts Scholarships in 2024 are:
- Performer, director, youth theatre coordinator and writer Cara Robinson from Goulburn
- Performing Arts - Cultural Leadership Student Laura Turner from Shoalhaven
- Multi-media artist Jodie Munday from Gundary
The scholarships were awarded by Veolia Creative Arts patron Jennifer Lamb at a presentation held in Goulburn on May 1.
"The Veolia Creative Arts Scholarship initiative is now in its 17th year and has supported 60 artists through more than $150,000 in funding to support local creatives undertaking either a program of arts practice or study," Ms Lamb said.
She congratulated each artist on their achievements and said the overall quality of the 2024 applicants was the highest in several years.
Local artists in any discipline across the local government areas of Goulburn Mulwaree, Upper Lachlan, Wingecarribee, Wollondilly, Oberon, Shoalhaven and the former Palerang area are being encouraged to apply for the scholarship in 2025.
Previous recipients have been supported in the fields of dance, theatre, drawing, printmaking, textile art, painting, digital art, writing, music composition and performance, ceramics, screen arts, creative design and photography.
The Veolia Creative Arts Scholarship program will be accepting applications early next year with dates and further information available online or by phoning 4822 2786.
About the artists
Laura Turner - 2024 Veolia Creative Arts Study Scholarship
Shoalhaven-based Laura Turner is one of 13 people around Australia accepted into the National Institute of Dramatic Arts to study a Masters of Fine Arts in Cultural Leadership.
Through her studies, Ms Turner hopes to be an advocate for arts organisations in regional areas, and to use her skills and research to help gain more grants and support for local projects.
The 2024 Veolia Creative Arts Scholarship will support her international placement towards the end of her course.
After gaining a Bachelor of Arts in Theatre (Theory and Practice), Ms Turner went on to train at NIDA to gain a Cert III in Live Production and Technical Services.
She has taught at Nowra Anglican College for 20 years where she co-directs large scale musicals.
Ms Turner has also worked as a theatre technician at the Shoalhaven Entertainment Centre and loves all aspects of theatre, especially directing and stage managing.
With the local Albatross Musical Theatre Company, Ms Turner has co-directed award-winning productions of Mary Poppins, Wicked, The Last Five Years and Mamma Mia!.
She developed a mentor program in which young people in the regional area learn theatre etiquette and technical skills, and she especially encourages young women in the technical areas of theatre.
Cara Robinson - 2024 Veolia Creative Arts Practice Scholarship
Since moving to Goulburn in 2010, Cara Robinson has worked extensively with local theatre companies as a performer, director, youth theatre coordinator, and writer.
Ms Robinson is a school teacher who believes in the transformative power of arts, particularly for regional youth.
She received a 2024 Veolia Creative Arts Scholarship to help her complete writing her latest play Through the Embers.
The play aims to challenge a much accepted narrative that childhood and adolescent trauma necessarily eventuates in tragedy.
Through the Embers follows the journey of two 11-year-old best friends, reconnecting after one of them experiences a sexual assault. It imagines a situation where these children are empowered to heal through friendship and connection, rather than experience the withdrawal and isolation that so often accompanies young people's experience of trauma.
Ms Robinson is planning to stage Through the Embers locally in 2025.
Jodie Munday - 2024 Veolia Creative Arts Study Scholarship
Jodie Munday is a practicing and exhibiting visual artist living and working within the Goulburn Mulwaree area in Gundary.
Her work shows strong influence and connection to her culture of Aboriginality - Wiradjuri Women, Celtic and British heritage.
She has a strong focus on country, flora, fauna, sustainability and working to raise awareness of caring for and rehabilitating country and creating a better future for all.
Ms Munday works in a variety of mediums including weaving, painting, drawing, photography and mixed media works.
She regularly works in schools across the region sharing culture, knowledge and skills with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander youth, encouraging them to grow with a strong cultural identity and belief in themselves and the future.
Her 2024 Veolia Creative Arts Scholarship will enable Ms Munday to work one-on-one with Shoalhaven based weaver Lissa De Sailles, learning more about foraging, preparing and working with natural fibres, different ways to work with the fibre, and field trips to identify and collect material.
From her study, Ms Munday has plans for a community project that gives back to First Nations people and brings the women of Yuin, Gundungarra and Ngunnawal nations together to weave, share culture and yarn.
