The William Fletcher Foundation is a charitable Foundation listed on the Register of Cultural Organisations. As such, it has Australian Taxation Office endorsement as a taxation-deductible gift recipient and as an income tax-exempt charitable entity (ACN 121 495 341).
The objects of the Foundation are to promote Fletcher’s work, to assist the development and advancement of young talented artists in need and to further the cause of art education in New South Wales.
About membership of the William Fletcher Foundation
Objects and achievements
The first object of the William Fletcher Foundation has been mainly the responsibility of Trevor Andersen, Fletcher’s friend and the executor of his estate, involving authorship of an illustrated monograph on the artist’s life and work (William Fletcher, 1983) and the founding of the Trust (1985). Donations from the founder and other individuals, sales at exhibitions and art auctions, together with royalties have provided the original source of the Foundations capital.
Examples of these are: the posthumous exhibitions held in 1983, 1985, 1987 and 2006; the National Trust’s use of Fletcher illustrations on three greeting cards; John Sands printing of a limited edition 12-illustration calendar for 1991, distributed on a world-wide corporate basis, and a 1992 calendar for general retail. Apart from continued donations from the founder, donations from generous private individuals have added to this healthy growth, which should continue from all the sources above. The Foundation continues to explore other ways of augmenting its capital.
The second object has been orientated to final year visual arts students in tertiary institutions in New South Wales. Currently, the following are involved: National Art School, the National Institute of Dramatic Art (design course); Southern Cross University and the University of Newcastle (both visual arts and natural history illustration).
Only applicants who demonstrate outstanding quality in their submitted works and academic records, together with a case for financial assistance, are awarded grants.
By 2017 the Foundation and the Trust had together distributed over $400 000 to over 500 students. In several cases the grants have enabled talented students, who would have dropped out because of financial hardship, to finish their studies. An archive of grants is available on the Grantees page.
The William Fletcher Foundation is now on a firm footing. In 2005–06 the William Fletcher Trust received an unexpected yet welcome bequest from the estate of Dr M Matheson Lines of Mosman. This guarantees the continued real value of the current awards.
In mid-2010, the Foundation announced an exciting new biennial residency of three months at the British School at Rome for an outstanding emerging artist, now worth $30 000. Two three-week terms at Bundanon have subsequently been awarded to the other finalists.
In addition, since 2009 the Foundation has provided support with prizes for costume and set design for the annual Theatre Critics Awards.
In 2017 the Foundation also commenced a half scholarship at the Julian Ashton Art School for a student in need.
