Eight artists have been awarded $80,000 Australia Council Fellowships to support creative activity and professional development.

Andrée Greenwell has been announced as the winner of the Australia Council for the Arts’ Music Fellowship for 2017. The composer is one of eight artists selected for Fellowships, which are worth $80,000 over two years. The other recipients are Stephanie Lake (Fellowship for Dance), Peter Jackson (Fellowship for Theatre), Simon Spain (Community Arts and Cultural Development), Hetti Perkins (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Arts), Arnold Zable (Literature) and Willoh S. Weiland (Emerging and Experimental). The Fellowships are offered once a year and are assessed and awarded by a peer panel made up of experts in the relevant art forms.

The Arts Council Fellowships are highly sought after and are designed to support outstanding established artists’ creative activity and professional development over a period of up to two years. “There are not many opportunities of this size that significantly assist mature practitioners toward large bodies of work,” Greenwell told Limelight. “So for me, the Australia Council’s allocation to support my practice is wonderful. The financial support will allow me to grow as an artist in a range of ways – technical exploration, new collaborations,...