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21.12.22

McClelland announces artists for First Nations Public Art Residency Program

McClelland is pleased to announce the four First Nations artists selected to take part in the inaugural Bunurong Fieldwork Residency at McClelland.

Robert Fielding (Western Arrernte, Yankunytjatjara, South Australia)
Amala Groom (Wiradyuri, New South Wales)
Caleb Nichols-Mansell
(Tasmania)
Steaphan Paton
(Gunai/Monero, Victoria)

McClelland is pleased to announce the four First Nations artists selected to take part in the inaugural Bunurong Fieldwork Residency at McClelland.

Robert Fielding (Western Arrernte, Yankunytjatjara, South Australia)
Amala Groom (Wiradyuri, New South Wales)
Caleb Nichols-Mansell
(Tasmania)
Steaphan Paton
(Gunai/Monero, Victoria)

The residency program aims to develop the artists’ skills and capacity in public art, and to deliver major creative outcomes.

Each artist will stay at McClelland’s studio cottage over a period of six to twelve weeks during 2023, developing detailed concept proposals for a permanent site-specific public artwork. While in residence, each artist will be supported by McClelland to engage with the Bunurong community to develop a concept proposal for a public artwork that will directly relate to the Bunurong culture and heritage of the land on which it will be based.

McClelland will provide accommodation, travel costs and a stipend for each artist. The artists will participate in workshops with the Bunurong Land Council Aboriginal Corporation and McClelland, which will develop their skills collaborative, cross-cultural practices and public art development.

The artists were chosen from a wide field of expressions of interest, with the judging panel comprising Tina Baum (Gulumirrgin/Wardaman/Karajarri peoples), Curator, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art, National Gallery of Australia; Dr Gaye Sculthorpe FAHA (Palawa), Research Professor, Cultural Heritage and Museum Studies, Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation, Deakin University; and Lisa Byrne, Director, McClelland.

Tina Baum said the residency is an important two-fold opportunity for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists to not only engage with the local Mayone-bulluk clan in Bunurong Country but also to develop their skills and understanding of public arts.

“The high calibre of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists who applied and were selected for the 2023 program all showed the excellence and development potential McClelland and the selection panel were seeking,” Ms Baum said.

Lisa Byrne congratulated the successful applicants, saying the residency program aimed to rectify the scarcity of First Nations cultural markers on the Mornington Peninsula.

“Each artist-in-residence will engage with the local Bunurong community, via McClelland’s First Nations Education and Public Programs Manager and the Registered Aboriginal Party, the Bunurong Land Council Aboriginal Corporation, in the development of a public artwork that will lead to broader community understanding of the culture and history of the Bunurong people.

“We plan to realise one of the four public artwork proposals developed through the residency, with support from public and private sectors to a value of up to $1.5 million. The work will be fabricated and installed by 2025 at a culturally significant site on the Peninsula Link freeway to mark and celebrate the Bunurong People’s presence, culture and heritage,” Ms Byrne said.

The Bunurong Fieldwork Residency at McClelland is supported by the Bunurong Land Council Aboriginal Corporation and Service Stream, and has been assisted by the Australian Government through the Australia Council for the Arts, its arts funding and advisory body.

Amala Groom

Amala Groom

Born 1979 in Casino, New South Wales. Lives and works in Kelso, New South Wales.

Amala Groom is a conceptual artist working in a range of mediums including film, photography and self-portraiture. Amala’s work is informed by extensive archival, legislative and first-person research, and explores complex issues of identity, sovereignty, history, politics, culture and spirituality. Her work is held in the collections of Artbank, Blacktown City Art Collection, Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre, Deutsche Bank Collection, and Western Sydney University.

Caleb Nichols-Mansell

Caleb Nichols-Mansell

Born 1995 in Launceston, Tasmania. Lives and works in Burnie, Tasmania.

Caleb Nichols-Mansell is a proud Tasmanian Aboriginal man with deep connections to country, community and culture. He has been involved in public art commissions throughout Tasmania and is passionate about embedding Aboriginal art, culture, stories, and knowledge throughout the island. Caleb is the founder of Blackspace Creative Arts and Cultural Hub, Tasmania’s first Aboriginal owned and operated art centre.

Robert Fielding

Robert Fielding

Born 1969 in Port Augusta, South Australia. Lives in the Mimili community on the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) Lands, South Australia.

Robert Fielding is an artist of Western Arrernte, Yankunytjatjara, Pakistani and Afghan descent whose practice is heavily informed by his personal experience as the son of a member of the Stolen Generation. Fielding has worked in sculpture, photography and film. He has spent time researching archives across Australia’s major cultural institutions, whilst concurrently learning from his Elders on the APY Lands. He is represented in collections including the National Gallery of Australia, the National Gallery of Victoria, the Art Gallery of South Australia, the Art Gallery of New South Wales, National Portrait Gallery and Parliament House.

Steaphan Paton

Steaphan Paton

Born 1985 in Mildura, Victoria. Lives and works in Healesville, Victoria.

Steaphan Paton grew up in Gippsland, Victoria, a member of the Gunai and Monero Nations. Steaphan’s practice interrogates governmental forms of control and power that entrench and amplify the impacts of colonialism. His work reflects a keen interest in the environment, archaeology and in continuing Indigenous knowledge, traditions and stories. He is represented in collections including the National Gallery of Australia, the National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne Museum, McClelland, and Brooklyn Art Library New York.

About McClelland

About McClelland

The residencies will take place at McClelland, known as the home of Australian sculpture, located upon the Mayone Bulluk clan area of Bunurong Country, approximately 50 kilometres south-east of Melbourne, at 390 McClelland Drive, Langwarrin.

A not-for-profit institution established in 1971, McClelland comprises 16 hectares of indigenous bushland and welcomes approximately 120,000 visitors each year. McClelland is known and valued for its unique experience of art and sculpture in the natural environment, and delivers a range of exhibitions, public programs, and public art commissions including the Southern Way McClelland Commissions on Peninsula Link.

McClelland is committed to celebrating First Nations’ peoples’ culture and wisdom and working with community in the development of our Reconciliation Action Plan.