The Hodgman Liberal Government has announced funding totalling $32,547 to eight Aboriginal artists through Arts Tasmania’s 2016 Aboriginal Arts program.

The Aboriginal Arts program provides grants to assist the professional and artistic development of Aboriginal artists and arts workers in Tasmania, to support contemporary arts practice across all art forms as well as ensuring the continuation of traditional art and cultural practices.

This year grant funding will provide support across a variety of art forms including music, printmaking and painting.

The successful recipients demonstrate the capacity Aboriginal artists have for sharing Tasmania’s unique cultural and contemporary histories through their arts practice.

2016 Aboriginal Arts Program funding recipients include:

• Launceston visual artist, Brigitte Wolfe will receive funding to develop new work for her first solo exhibition in 2017.
• Hobart-based water colourist, Janice Ross will receive funding to create a series of water colour paintings of dual-named cultural sites across Tasmania for an exhibition in 2017.
• Hobart-based singer/song writer, Kalana Norton will receive funding to undertake a two-week professional development workshop at the Country Music Academy of Australia.
• Burnie-based printmaker, Richard Griffiths will receive funding to record family histories of those living on the Burra Bee Dee mission at Coonabarabran to be translated into a series of prints for exhibition in 2017.
• Forcett-based visual artist Warren Mason will receive funding to extend his arts practice by undertaking a skills mentorship with printmaker John Robinson.
• Burnie-based painter Cheryl Ransom will receive funding to develop a new body of work exploring cultural sites between Rocky Cape and Preminghana for an exhibition in 2017.
• Hobart-based emerging artist Grace Williams will receive funding to undertake a skills development mentorship working with renowned artist Ben Kluss also known as Jamin.
• The Cygnet Folk Festival will receive funding to bring Aboriginal musician, Ronnie Summers and songwriter, Dyan Summers from the Furneaux Islands to perform at the 34th Cygnet Folk Festival in 2016.

The full list of 2016 grant recipients can be found at: www.arts.tas.gov.au/recipients
Vanessa Goodwin, Minister for the Arts