EXECUTIVE REPORT

Since its establishment in 1993, The Ian Potter Cultural Trust has sought to support the development of the arts sector in Australia, awarding more than $10.5 million in grants to support Australian artists.

Despite this mission, during the past year, the Cultural Trust’s grants for emerging artist development came to a near standstill due to the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent international travel restrictions.

We also saw delays to the production and exhibition of the final work in The Ian Potter Moving Image Commission series, and Angela Tiatia’s work is now planned to be exhibited at ACMI in 2023.

This hiatus allowed us the opportunity to pause and consider future possibilities for The Ian Potter Cultural Trust, and in mid-2021, the Trustees initiated a comprehensive external evaluation of the Trust’s philanthropic activities, the first formal review in its 28-year history.

The evaluation took place over a period of five months and consulted with over 270 artists, including current and past grantees, as well as commission partner organisations and industry advisors.

The evaluation provided the Trustees of The Ian Potter Cultural Trust with a clearer understanding of the Trust’s impact over the past three decades, in particular on the career trajectories of grantees and the continuous and evolving needs of Australian artists. We are grateful for the experiences and knowledge shared by our community. This review will form the basis upon which the Cultural Trust will build future initiatives and develop its strategy to support the Australian arts community.

A detailed summary of the objectives and findings of the evaluation is included in this report (pp. 6–8), and we would like to particularly thank our community for their support and participation in the evaluation during what was a profoundly challenging time for the arts sector.

As 2021 ended, the planned reopening of international borders allowed the Cultural Trust to reopen funding rounds in 2022. And so, the Cultural Trust Board of Trustees and staff returned to business as usual, awarding grants supporting emerging artists to undertake professional development opportunities overseas.

We were delighted to award grants to 22 emerging artists in the single round of 2021–22 and to work with the previous financial year’s grantees to reshape and reconfirm their development projects, which were postponed or disrupted during the pandemic.

Internally, the past year brought changes to The Ian Potter Cultural Trust team. In April 2022, we said farewell to Subhadra Mistry, the program manager responsible for The Ian Potter Foundation’s Vibrant funding pillar, including The Ian Potter Cultural Trust and The Ian Potter Moving Image Commission.

In June 2022, we welcomed two new staff members. Louise Joel stepped into the role of Arts Program Manager, bringing 15 years of experience in the Australian and International arts sectors to the role. Paula Cruz Manrique was also appointed to the role of Program Officer, supporting the Foundation’s program management team, including assisting Louise with the Cultural Trust.

We congratulate our 22 new grantees for 2021–22 and look forward to following their impressive array of development projects and professional journeys.