The Marten Bequest is an Australian charitable trust, from which

scholarship A scholarship is a form of Student financial aid, financial aid awarded to students for further education. Generally, scholarships are awarded based on a set of criteria such as academic merit, Multiculturalism, diversity and inclusion, athleti ...

s are awarded by the

Australia Council for the Arts Creative Australia, formerly known as the Australia Council for the Arts and the Australia Council, is the country's official arts council, serving as an arts funding and advisory body for the Government of Australia. The council was announ ...

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 A pen name or nom-de-plume is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen name may be used to make the author's na ...

, was born in the county of

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

, England, migrating to Australia at a young age and living in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

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 Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. ...

visited Australia. His career was as a

performing artist The performing arts are arts such as music, dance, and drama which are performed for an audience. They are different from the visual arts, which involve the use of paint, canvas or various materials to create physical or static art objects. Per ...

. Marten co-wrote ''The Bali Ballet Murders'' with Cornelius Conyn, which was published in Australia,

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

and also translated into Dutch and published in the Netherlands. He was also known for his

philanthropy Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives for the Public good (economics), public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private goo ...

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 each, awarded in nine categories, bring the total prize pool to . 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 Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...

instrumental music An instrumental or instrumental song is music without any vocals, although it might include some inarticulate vocals, such as shouted backup vocals in a big band setting. Through semantic widening, a broader sense of the word song may refer t ...

, painting, poetry, prose, sculpture and singing. Open to Australian citizens aged between 21 and 35 (or 17–35 for ballet), the scholarships are worth , 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 Helen Marian Lochhead is an Australian architect and urbanist. Her career has focused on the inception, planning, design, and delivery of complex urban projects ranging from city improvements programs to major urban regeneration projects. She ha ...

(1982), architect *

Wendy Sharpe Wendy Sharpe (born 24 February 1960) is an Australian artist who lives and works in Sydney and Paris. She has had many solo exhibitions nationally and internationally, been awarded many national awards and artist residencies for her work, an ...

(1986), painter *

Tim Winton Timothy John Winton (born 4 August 1960) is an Australian writer. He has written novels, children's books, non-fiction books, and short stories. In 1997, he was named a Living Treasure by the National Trust of Australia, and has won the ...

(1987), writer *

Bronwyn Oliver Bronwyn Joy Oliver (née Gooda, 22 February 1959 – 10 July 2006) was an Australian sculptor whose work primarily consisted of metalwork. Her sculptures are admired for their tactile nature, aesthetics, and technical skills demonstrated ...

(1989), sculptor *

Susan Lyons Susan Lyons (born 1958, Sydney) is an Australian actress. Career Film and television Lyons' television appearances include: ''A Country Practice'', ''Police Rescue'', '' Murder Call'', ''Farscape'', '' Something in the Air'' and '' All Saint ...

(1992), actress *

Robert Clinch ] Robert Clinch (born 1957 in Cooma) is an Australian realist painter who is primarily known for his urban and industrial landscapes. He has won awards such as the Wynne Prize, Wynne Trustees' Watercolour Prize, a Marten Bequest Travelling Scholars ...

(1993), painter *

Delia Falconer Delia Falconer (born 1966) is an Australian novelist best known for her novel ''The Service of Clouds''. Her works have been nominated for several literary awards. Biography Falconer is the only child of two graphic designers. She studied for ...

(1997), writer * Suneeta Peres da Costa (2002), writer *

Rachael Coopes Rachael Coopes (sometimes credited as Rachel Coopes) is an Australian actress, best known for her character ''Sigourney'' in the SBS cult parody series '' Life Support''. After starring in her first acting role as Max Cullen's daughter in the ...

(2004), actress * Anthony White (2007), painter *

Eryn Jean Norvill Eryn Jean Norvill (born 1984), sometimes spelt Eryn-Jean Norvill, is an Australian stage and television actress. She has mostly performed in Sydney Theatre Company productions, and frequently collaborated with STC artistic director Kip Williams. ...

(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

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Marten Bequest 1975 establishments in Australia