About the Grants.

CAPO has been supporting Canberra and ACT region artists since 1983.

Below is a list of the awards and grants on offer from CAPO for 2023. You can apply for these awards using the application form on the apply page.

Applications open Thursday 10 August and close midnight Sunday 24 September. Winners will be announced at the awards event on Wednesday 25 October at Government House.

  • CAPO Fellowship (max $15,000)

    The CAPO Fellowship is CAPO’s most prestigious award. This award is open to applications from established artists working in any discipline or art form and are residents of Canberra and the region only. No specific sum of money is set aside for the CAPO Fellowship. As with all types of CAPO assistance, it is subject to the availability of funds.

    The selected CAPO Fellow is expected to act as an ambassador for CAPO, and to ensure that the CAPO name is given positive exposure during the term of the Fellowship. Applicants for the CAPO Fellowship should be of high standing in their chosen field. This should be demonstrated by evidence of commitment to their practice over a significant period of time.

    The purpose of the CAPO Fellowship is to enable an artist to concentrate on their project for a set period of time (up to one year). Normally this assistance will be aimed at enabling an artist to complete a body of work, develop a new technique, or simply improve the standard of their work by concentrating on it more fully for that period.

  • Mandy Martin Art and Environment Award ($7,500)

    Mandy Martin was a pre-eminent Australian artist who called Canberra - and later, Central West NSW - home. She was a lecturer at the Canberra School of Art from 1978 to 2003.

    Hers was an international and national reputation, seeking as she did to explore landscape and the environment through the lens of its degradation and destruction through industrial imposition, about which she had felt so very strongly.

    Her body of work encompassed printmaking, painting and large-scale collaborative installation works, and is held in the collections of every major public gallery in Australia; the Guggenheim Museum in New York; the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art; and in many private collections.

    The family of Mandy Martin is excited to announce the disbursement of a new national annual award of $7,500, to be awarded to an arts practitioner for their creative response to climate change and the environment.

  • Rosalie Gascoigne Memorial Award (max $5,000)

    Rosalie Gascoigne Memorial Award is in the spirit of the great Australian artist, Canberra resident and CAPO supporter Rosalie Gascoigne (1917-1999).

    This award supports the creation of new work by any visual artists. This award is open to applications from practising artists resident in Canberra and the region only.

    The Rosalie Gascoigne Memorial Award is generously supported by The Tall Foundation.

  • Robert Foster Memorial Award ($3,000)

    CAPO has established the Robert Foster Memorial Award to commemorate the outstanding contribution Robert Foster has made to the local, national and international arts community for the past 30 years.

    For many years F! NK has been a regular and generous donor to CAPO’s events.

    This award – originally funded by both CAPO and donations received – will go to a mid-career practitioner from the Canberra region working in metal and or design.

    The Robert Foster Memorial Award is generously supported by TSA.

  • Tall Foundation Award ($3,000)

    This award is an open grant for an emerging artist to help research techniques/themes for a body of work.

  • Megalo Residency ($3,000)

    Three months’ studio access and $3000 stipend are offered for one artist resident in the Canberra region. The award is open to applications from artists at any career stage and working in any discipline; however, applications should clearly outline your level of experience with print media and adjacent disciplines.

  • Shaw & Partners Award ($2,000)

    This award is offered as a general grant to a visual artist.

  • Michele Black Memorial Award - Creations of Manuka ($2,000)

    This award is offered for a mid-career artist in any of the specified art disciplines.

  • Craft + Design Canberra Outstanding Practice Award ($2,000)

    This grant will be awarded to an Accredited Professional Member of Craft + Design Canberra.

  • Waldren Constructions General Award ($2,000)

    This award will be awarded to a Visual Artist.

  • Capital Chemist Award ($1,500)

    A general grant for a mid-career visual artist.

  • Workplace Research Associates Award ($1,500)

    This award is offered as a general grant to artists in any of the specified art disciplines.

  • Entice Travel Performers Awards (2 x $1,000)

    These two awards are offered for artists working in performance disciplines.

  • Urban Pantry Manuka Award ($1,000)

    This award is offered as a general grant to artists in any of the specified art disciplines.

  • Canberra Weekly Award ($1,000)

    This award is offered as a general grant to artists in any of the specified art disciplines.

  • Home By Holly Award ($1,000)

    This award is offered as a general grant to artists in any of the specified art disciplines.

  • All Insure Emerging Artist Awards (3 x $500)

    These three grants will be awarded to emerging artists in any of the specified art disciplines.

  • Cook Creative Writing Prize ($500)

    This prize is offered to creative writers.

  • Craft + Design Canberra Emerging Artist Award ($500)

    This grant will be awarded to an emerging artist who is a member of Craft + Design Canberra.

  • Boris Property Emerging Artist Award ($500)

    This grant will be awarded to an emerging artist in any of the specified art discipline.

  • Canberra Museum and Gallery Award ($500)

    This award will be awarded to a mid-career photography artist.

  • Radford & Co Sculpture Award ($500)

    The award is offered as a general grant to artists in the field of sculpture.