Otago University Fellowships

The small city of Dunedin has a history of nurturing artists, writers, and composers. A leading figure in encouraging this was Charles Brasch.

In 1996 Michael Illingworth became the first artist to hold what has become this country's premier Art residency. Since then the list of holders reads like a who's who of recognised New Zealand artists. The Francis Hodgkins Fellowship is for painters, sculptors and multi-media artists and offers a studio, and not less than the minimum salary of a full-time university lecturer for a full year. The fiftieth year of the fellowship was celebrated with a book telling of the Fellowship, the artists and their works.

The University is also is home to theRobert Burns Fellowship, New Zealand's premier literary residency. It was established in 1958 by a group of anonymous Dunedin citizens to commemorate the bicentenary of the birth of Robert Burns, and to perpetuate the community's appreciation of the part played by the related Dunedin family of Dr Thomas Burns in the early settlement of Otago. The Fellowship aims to encourage and promote imaginative New Zealand literature.

Composers normally resident in New Zealand can apply for the Mozart Fellowship which also offers 'not less than the minimum salary of a full-time university lecturer for a full year'.

Painting, 1979, by Michael Illingworth