The Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art (QAGOMA) is calling for applications to the Vida Lahey Memorial Travelling Scholarship, with the 2027 round expanding by offering two recipients an increased award of $50,000 each.

Made possible by the generous bequest of Shirley Lahey (1925–2011), the niece of eminent Queensland artist Vida Lahey, the scholarship honours her aunt’s artistic achievements and the significant role travel played in her life and art.

Offered every two years to young or emerging Australian artists and young Australian art historians, the Vida Lahey Memorial Travelling Scholarship gives recipients an extraordinary opportunity to develop their practice or research through planned international and national travel that contributes to an understanding of Australian art.

QAGOMA Director Chris Saines CNZM said: ‘The Gallery is thrilled to be able to expand this prestigious scholarship from a single $40,000 award to two scholarships of $50,000 each, creating an even better opportunity for outstanding applicants to write a new chapter in the story of Australian art.

‘Since its inception in 2015, the Vida Lahey Memorial Travelling Scholarship has invited emerging artists and art scholars to demonstrate how travel can further their own practice and research and contribute to a broader understanding of Australian art history.

‘The Scholarship encourages recipients to thoroughly explore an area of professional interest; engage with a wider world that can help them to expand their chosen field of endeavour; and build their artistic and professional networks. It has been fascinating to see the highly diverse range of interests that recipients have pursued as a result of this generous bequest,’ said Mr Saines.

Previous recipients of the Vida Lahey Memorial Travelling Scholarship include
Christopher Bassi (2025), Shivanjani Lal (2023), Debbie Taylor-Worley and Kink (Tim Riley Walsh, Courtney Coombs and Callum McGrath) (2021), Valerie Keenan (2019), Sara Morawetz (2017) and Mathew Perkins (2015).

Vida Lahey (1882–1968), whose work is well represented in the QAGOMA Collection, is widely known for her oil paintings and as a watercolourist of distinction. She maintained a highly successful artistic career while also campaigning for children’s art education and helping to establish the significant Queensland Art Fund with sculptor Daphne Mayo.

Applications for the Vida Lahey Memorial Travelling Scholarship close 10 January 2027. For full eligibility requirements and application details, visit the QAGOMA Website.

The Vida Lahey Memorial Travelling Scholarship is administered and coordinated by the QAGOMA Foundation. It is generously funded through the Estate of Shirley Lahey (1925–2011), in memory of her aunt, Vida Lahey.

For further details, visit qagoma.qld.gov.au/learn/scholarships

ENDS