The annual Samstag Scholarships enable Australian artists to develop their artistic capacities and skills through a dedicated period of practice-based learning in an international learning institution.

The scholarship provides each artist with institutional fees for one academic year of study and a $70,000 tax free allowance and covers travel expenses to a leading international art school of their choice. The competitive national scholarship program, established in 1991, is open to students, recent graduates–and, for the first time since its inception–to applicants who have been graduates of more than five years standing.

Applications for the 2024 Samstag Scholarship are now open

The online application uses a different platform this year to previous years. Applicants will need to create an account within the portal before submitting an application. This can be done now, and the application can be started and saved for future submission. We encourage applicants to explore the application portal early, even if not submitting an application until later.

History

The Samstag Scholarships were established in 1991 through the generous bequest of the late Gordon Samstag, an American artist who taught from 1961 to 1970 at the South Australian School of Art,  a part of the University of South Australia.

Gordon Samstag's will provided funds for awarding annual scholarships enabling Australian visual artists to study and develop their artistic capacities, skills and talents outside Australia. This remarkable gift ranks as one of the very great bequests to visual arts education in Australia.

Samstag Scholarships are administered by the University of South Australia through the Samstag Museum of Art, on behalf of Gordon Samstag's United States trustee, the Bank of America.

148 scholarships have been awarded to date. See what our scholars are up to @samstagscholarships