Catapult Mentorships
Catapult and Catapult + Tarnanthi provides creative professionals with essential funding and support to further develop their artistic practice through a meaningful mentorship.
The projects of Catapult recipients show ambition, drive and dedication. Mentees engage with mentors from around the country to develop skills, realise projects and allow time to learn more about their practice.
With the generous support of The Ian Potter Foundation and Guildhouse Creative Champions, we have provided thirty mentorships to Guildhouse members and in partnership with AGSA awarded four First Nations artitsts mentorships through Catapult + Tarnanthi.
Catapult is bolstered by an important research study in partnership with the University of South Australia to examine the impact of mentorships on artistic careers over time.
Catapult and Catapult + Tarnanthi are opportunities open to South Australian Guildhouse members.
The Catapult 2021 call out now open.
Closing Monday 24 May, 9am.
Catapult
The Catapult mentorship program offers multiple mentorships available at $5,000 and $10,000 for South Australian artists, craftspeople and designers.
Catapult + Tarnanthi
This mentorship program provides funded opportunities for artists to work with mentors, culminating in the presentation of new work as part of the Tarnanthi festival. Tarnanthi presents the contemporary art of the oldest living culture on an unprecedented scale, in a national event held annually by AGSA.
The Mentorships
Catapult 2020
Elyas Alavi with Khaled Sabsabi
Emerging artist Elyas Alavi will work with established installation artist Khaled Sabsabi to develop his technical and conceptual skills and broaden his visual language.
Fruzsi Kenez with Gerry Wedd
Acclaimed ceramicist Gerry Wedd will mentor illustrator and ceramicist Fruzsi Kenez in producing large ceramic vessels with nuanced illustration techniques such as cobalt painting and sgraffito in his Port Elliot studio.
Georgia Button with Nicholas Folland
Emerging multidisciplinary artist Georgia Button will be working with Adelaide-based artist and educator Nicholas Folland to develop a road map for the next 5 years of her artistic career, pinpointing opportunities that will enable her to fulfil immediate, mid-term and long-term goals as a professional visual artist.
Gus Clutterbuck with Mark Valenzuela
Mid-career ceramicist Gus Clutterbuck is undertaking a mentorship with Mark Valenzuela to evolve his conceptual development and design of large scale ceramic installation works and figurative imagery.
James Howe with Grey Hawk
Furniture designer and maker James Howe will be working with prominent Adelaide master maker Gray Hawk to develop his skills in woodworking and furniture production.
Karen Carr with Rosii Pedler
Self-taught community artist Karen Carr aims to diversify her practice by working with Rosii Pedler to develop her ceramics skills and eventually combine hand built ceramics into her stone sculptures.
Matthew Moore with Mary-Jean Richardson
Emerging artist Matthew Moore will be developing his oil painting and portraiture skills with established artist and visual arts lecturer Mary-Jean Richardson.
Monte Masi with Hew Parham
Monte Masi will be working with Adelaide-based actor, clown and teacher Hew Parham to learn new skills relating to live performance in a contemporary art context, with a focus on contemporary clowning practice and associated techniques.
Sam Gold with Jane Robertson and David Pedler
Ceramicist Sam Gold will undertake a two pronged mentorship to investigate body and surface treatment of clay with established ceramicist Jane Robertson and harvesting local clays with established ceramicist David Pedler.
Sarra Tzijan with Christian Hall
Emerging Indian-Australian contemporary metal artist Sarra Tzijan will work with mentor jeweller and metalsmith Christian Hall to develop her technical and conceptual skills and establish her production practice.
Tony Wilson with Thomas Readett
Kaunra/Ngarrindjeri/Narrunga artist Tony Wilson will be undertaking a mentorship with established artist and Education Officer for Tarnanthi Thomas Readett. Tony will be working to develop and refine his portraiture skills in addition to expanding his professional networks.
Zoë Brooks with Liam Benson
Interdisciplinary artist Zoë Brooks will work with multidisciplinary artist Liam Benson to gain deeper understanding of best practice working with community in a contemporary arts practice.
Catapult 2019
Chris De Rosa with Trent Walter
Building on her existing practice of printmaking in the expanded field, Chris De Rosa worked with mentor Trent Walker (Negative Press studio) to develop both technical and conceptual skills while investigating the art of the artist book.
Kristel Britcher with Katharine Coleman
Scottish glass artist Katharine Coleman will work with mentee Kristel Britcher at the Corning Museum of Glass in New York, developing and refining skills in the lesser known technique of copper wheel engraving, cementing Britcher’s own skills as one of the few artists in Australia utilizing the technique within contemporary landscape.
Brooke Walker with Tyrone 'Rone' Wright
Expanding her environmentalist realist painting arts practice, Brooke Walker visited Melbourne to learn under mentor and established street artist ‘Rone’. Through experience in scaling up, new materials and project management Brooke was trained in best practice to take her works exploring human and animal relationships to new audiences and enrich public spaces.
Dr Maarten Daudeij with Dr Gavin Malone and Karl Winda Telfer
Through conversation and time spent on Lot 50-Kanyanyapilla, Dr Maarten Daudeij informed his writing and community practice around the rights and responsibilities of artists working on unceded land, with leading thinkers and activists Dr Gavin Malone and Karl Winda Telfer.
Leonie Westbrook with Catherine Truman
Broadening her practice to encompass more experimental forms and modes of making, jeweler Leonie with mentor Catherine Truman not only extended her practice but examined the ergonomic aspects of her practice for a sustainable career.
Regine Schwarzer with Barbara Ryman
With internationally recognized NSW based enameller Barbara Ryman, jeweler Regine Schwarzer revisited her skills in traditional and Japanese enameling techniques, expanding her practice and allowing conceptual and technical growth.
Rita Kellaway with Lisa Cahill
Emerging kiln formed glass artist Rita Kellaway will work with internationally recognized glass artist Lisa Cahill to develop her business strategies, further technical skills and build a strong and supportive national network.
Tom Borgas with Jason Waterhouse
Extending the material and technical diversity of this sculptural work, Tom developed his gallery networks and art in public spaces strategies with experienced artist and gallerist Jason Waterhouse.
James Dodd with Cameron Robbins
Working with an established artist with whom he has a shared set of ideas, James Dodd was mentored by Cameron Robbins, sharing industry and technical knowledge pertinent to the specific ways of making and presenting within their field.
Catapult 2018
Christopher Williams with Johannes Sistermanns
Internationally renowned (and based) artist Johannes Sistermanns spent dedicated time with Christopher Williams in his personal studio to develop an understanding of the technical application of transducer technology in sound sculpture. Through critical exchange and sharing listening sessions Williams built on his already strong knowledge and experience within his field of sound art to develop compositional approaches to the design of sound environments and soundscape installation.
Bridget Currie with Tamara Hardman
Tamara Hardman brought her extensive experience and acclaim from the film industry to Bridget Currie, allowing Currie to capture and add to her sculpture and performance heavy practice through moving image.
Kaspar Schmidt Mumm with Darren O'Donnell
Expanding his experience in social arts practice, Kaspar Schmidt Mumm travelled to Canada to work with Darren O’Donell the Artistic Director of experimental art company Mammalian Diving Reflex. Schmidt Mumm developed his street performance, social data gathering and audience controlled narrative by learning from Mammalian’s inner workings.
Jane Skeer with Richard Lewer
While addressing the methods and methodologies within her art practice, Jane Skeer worked with Melbourne artist Richard Lewer to push personal boundaries to undertake large scale community projects and navigate the national art industry with clarity and guidance.
Brianna Speight with Mish Grigor
Mentee Brianna Speight unpacked connections between performance and photography with Melbourne based experimental performance artist Mish Grigor. Speight and Grigor connected through conceptual and methodological cross-overs such as humour, critical theory and gender, to consolidate and strengthen Speights conceptual path.
Gail Hocking with Sasha Grbich
Working with acclaimed sound artist Sasha Grbich, Hocking undertook a deeper exploration into the body, materiality and nature interconnections already evident within Hockings work – with a particular focus on sound recording, editing and video documentation in a site – specific environment.
Lara Tilbrook with Sera Waters
Engaging with writer and maker Sera Waters, Lara Tilbrook will expand and evolve the purpose of her practice with a self-assured definition. With parallels between the artists themesof environmental preservation, cultural values and historical sentiment of adornments and objects Tilbrook will be guided by an understanding hand.
Lesa Farrant with Irianna Kanellopoulou
Working with Melbourne based master mould maker, ceramic artist Lesa Farrant learnt the complex skill of 2, 3 and piece mould making. This greatly expanded the breadth of Farrant’s object making and in turn, her narrative.
Cindy Durant with Regine Schwarzer
Regine Schwarzer is a highly trained silver and goldsmith who informed Cindy Durant’s understanding of specific jewellery making processes, shaping the remotely located artists practice towards an expanded sustainable practice.
Catapult + Tarnanthi 2020
Anna Dowling with Deborah Kelly
Emerging artist Anna Dowling is a descendant of the Badimia people of the Yamatji region in Western Australia. She will be working with Sydney-based established artist Deborah Kelly to develop a series of political works that explore the impact of genetics and DNA testing on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.
Christina Gollan with Kirsten Coelho
Kaurna and Ngarrindjeri artist Christina Gollan will be working with renowned ceramicist Kirsten Coelho (SA) to hone her skills in a dedicated ceramics studio. She aims to develop her use of colour and expand her practice to include large works and sculpture.
Catapult + Tarnanthi 2019
Sandra Saunders with Jess Wallace
Wangary-based Ngarrindjeri painter and activist Sandra Saunders worked with mentor film maker, writer and painter Dr Jess Wallace to further develop her painting practice. The artists travelled from the Gove Peninsula to Eyre Peninsula in order to extend Sandra’s technical skills, while also chronicling Sandra’s development and activism in a documentary that will accompany the exhibition pieces.
Damien Shen with Glenn Iseger-Pilkington
Adelaide-based Ngarrindjeri painter and illustrator Damien Shen travelled with mentor Glenn Iseger-Pilkington to Canberra and Sydney to research representations of indigenous identity and power in national collections. Through critical discourse with curators, artists and his mentor, Damien developed a new body of work relating directly to his Aboriginal and Chinese heritage and his young children.
Catapult News
Spotlight: Sarra Tzijan on Catapult
Sarra Tzijan is an emerging Indian-Australian contemporary metal artist. She has been working with mentor jeweller and metalsmith Christian Hall to develop her technical and conceptual skills and establish her production practice. We interviewed Sarra about what it’s...
CATAPULT 2021 Call Out
We are thrilled to offer the fourth round of the Catapult mentorship program, with multiple mentorships at $5,000 available for South Australian artists, craftspeople and designers. Thanks to a new partnership with Country Arts SA, two of these mentorships have been...
Spotlight: Sam Gold on Catapult
Sam Gold is a process oriented artist working primarily as a ceramic sculptor. She has been working towards pushing the boundaries of her practice and honing her technical skills with a two pronged mentorship with established ceramicists Jane Robertson and David...
Images (L-R): Sandra Saunders, install at the Art Gallery of South Australia for Tarnanthi 2019. Photograph Saul Steed; Georgia Button, Space of In betweeness, 2019, HD Video Still. Image courtesy the artist; Elyas Alavi, Naan Bread (detail), video installation still, 2017. Photograph Grant Hancock; Chris DeRosa, Seaflora Etchings, 2018. Image courtesy the artist; Bridget Currie, work in progress, 2018. Image courtesy the artist; Anna Dowling, Our Journey (detail), 2016. Image courtesy the artist; Sandra Saunders, install at the Art Gallery of South Australia for Tarnanthi 2019. Photograph Saul Steed.