The Marten Bequest is an Australian charitable trust, from which scholarships are awarded by the Australia Council for the Arts on behalf of the trustee, Perpetual Limited. The scholarships are known as the Marten Bequest Travelling Scholarship or just Marten Bequest Scholarship. The trust was formed from the estate of John Chisholm Marten (1908–1966).
John Marten
John Chisholm Marten (1908–1966), who used Jon Marten as his stage and pen name, was born in the county of Kent, England, migrating to Australia at a young age and living in Sydney for most of his adult life. He trained in Spanish dancing in Spain, before returning to Britain to serve in the merchant navy during World War II. He took up dancing again with Californian dancer Doris Nile, and appeared in a royal gala performance at the Tivoli Theatre, Sydney, in 1954. when Queen Elizabeth II visited Australia. His career was as a performing artist.
Marten co-wrote The Bali Ballet Murders with Cornelius Conyn, which was published in Australia, London and also translated into Dutch and published in the Netherlands. He was also known for his philanthropy and support of the arts.
Marten established the trust in order to help young creative artists in several disciplines to pay for their training and study programs.
History
The first scholarships were awarded in 1975, when three scholarships were awarded, for ballet, singing and instrumental music.
In 2013, the scholarships were worth A$20,000 each, awarded in nine categories, bring the total prize pool to A$220,000. In 2017, there were 12 scholarships across six categories on offer, worth a total of A$600,000. Perpetual Limited has been the trustee since 2014.
Scholarships
Administered by the Australia Council, the trust operates as a scholarship fund for various types of creators in the arts, including acting, architecture, ballet, instrumental music, painting, poetry, prose, sculpture and singing. Open to Australian citizens aged between 21 and 35 (or 17–35 for ballet), as of 2022 the scholarships are worth A$50,000, and are paid over two years in instalments.
The number of recipients has varied each year. In 2022 there were seven winners.
Selected winners
Many notable Australian creatives have won Marten Bequest Travelling Scholarships, including:
- Helen Lochhead (1982), architect
- Wendy Sharpe (1986), painter
- Tim Winton (1987), writer
- Bronwyn Oliver (1989), sculptor
- Susan Lyons (1992), actress
- Robert Clinch (1993), painter
- Delia Falconer (1997), writer
- Suneeta Peres da Costa (2002), writer
- Rachael Coopes (2004), actress
- Anthony White (2007), painter
- Eryn Jean Norvill (2015), actress
- Abdul Abdullah (2021), painter
- Dženana Vucic (2022), writer
A full list of past winners can be found on the Creative Australia website.
Footnotes
- UK General Register Office records his name thus at birth, July–September quarter, 2008, Dartford district.
References
- "The Marten Bequest ScholarshipS". Australia Council. Retrieved 14 July 2023.
- "Spanish dance". Pix. 25 (8). Associated Newspapers Limited. 19 August 1950. ISSN 0032-0390. nla.obj-389050162 – via Trove.
- "Royal Gala Performance, 6 February 1954". AusStage. Retrieved 11 October 2022.
- Royal Gala Performance (6 February 1954 - 6 February 1954) [Event Description], 1954, retrieved 11 October 2022
- ^ "Emerging Australian artists in line for increased $50,000 Marten Bequest scholarships in 2017". 13 March 2017. Retrieved 9 May 2022.
- Conyn, Cornelius; Marten, Jon (1961), The Bali ballet murder, Harrap, retrieved 11 October 2022
- ^ "Recipients of our co-investment opportunities". Australia Council for the Arts. 18 October 2021. Retrieved 11 October 2022.
- Noble, Kelly (20 February 2013). "$220k worth of scholarships to be announced on Facebook". Glam Adelaide. Retrieved 11 October 2022.
- ^ Lochrie, Conor (13 March 2017). "Applications open for The Marten Bequest scholarships". The Music Network. Retrieved 11 October 2022.
- "Prized scholarships to help young artists develop creative talents". Australian Arts Review. 25 May 2022. Retrieved 11 October 2022.
- "Architect receives $50k travelling prize". Architecture Australia. 31 May 2022. Retrieved 11 October 2022.
- "Vucic awarded $50k Marten Bequest scholarship". Books+Publishing. 30 May 2022. Retrieved 11 October 2022.
- "Australian Theatre for Young People: Rachael Coopes". Australian Theatre for Young People. Archived from the original on 10 August 2014.
- "Award - The Marten Bequest Travelling Scholarship". Anthony White.
- Jefferson, Dee (7 May 2022). "Portrait of an artist: The making, unravelling and reinvention of Eryn Jean Norvill". ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 9 May 2022.