Arts Capacity Funding

NOW CLOSED:  The Sidney Myer Fund and the James and Diana Ramsay Foundation opened a funding round for a Capacity Building Program for South Australian artists and small to medium arts organisations.  Successful recipients will be advised in June 2017. 

Ramsay Art Prize - The Art Gallery of South Australia

The 2017 Ramsay Art Prize exhibition is now open to 27 August 2017.  Sarah Contos won the $100,000 inaugural prize.  Sarah was one of twenty-one finalists that were in the running for Australia’s richest prize for young contemporary artists.  See media release under "News".

Art Gallery of South Australia, Director, Nick Mitzevich said ‘The Ramsay Art Prize is an important legacy project for the Art Gallery of South Australia that we hope will build confidence in Australian art, foster young talent and change the way young artists are valued in the canon of contemporary art.’

The Australian Ballet

The Foundation is pleased to celebrate our partnership with The Australian Ballet (TAB) by providing seed funding for the creation of Story-time Ballet, a ballet for Children. Due to limited opportunities for children 3–11 to access ballet, TAB have launched a specially designed show for children. These special productions are now being performed in city centres and in regional communities to engage the next generation of ballet lovers. Story-time Ballet: The Sleeping Beauty was premiered in Adelaide in April 2016 and was seen by 5,500 at a number of venues.

Adelaide Festival Centre Foundation

The Foundation has supported the Equity Tix program to enable approximately 500 disadvantaged school students to attend a live performance and arts workshop at the Adelaide Festival Centre.  The program targets children who may not have the opportunity to experience the wonder and magic of live theatre performance.

Helpmann Academy

NOW CLOSED:  Entries for two Helpmann Fellowships, valued at up to $20,000 each will be awarded in both 2017 and 2018 to fund substantial overseas or interstate opportunities.The Fellowships will fund significant professional development from emerging South Australian artists. The Helpmann Fellowships are open to final year students and graduates (up to five years from graduation) from all of Helpmann Academy’s partner institutions, working in visual arts, theatre, dance, music and film.  Fellowship winners will be announced in April 2017.

Art Gallery of South Australia

The Foundation is pleased to support the Gallery as its Family Program Partner, enabling FREE activities for children and families through The Studio and START programs.  The Studio  is a dedicated and free learning activity space within the Art Gallery of South Australia for children, families and art lovers of all ages. The START program is held on the first Sunday of each month for children under 12 and their families. 

More than 90,000 children annually are now engaged in the Gallery's family programs. 

Patch Theatre

Patch Theatre Company creates world class theatre that captures the hearts and minds of young audiences.  The Foundation supports Patch Theatre to take their performances to regional and remote areas of South Australia to enable children to see a live theatre show.  Their productions reach reached 9,000 children in SA in 2015. 

The Foundation also supports Patch Theatre's professional development for its Artistic Director.

SAHMRI (South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute)

Resilient Futures SA is a SAHMRI project that we co-fund with The Wyatt Trust. It is a three year, individualised mentor based program that will work towards building resilience and well-being for 850 disadvantaged young people.  It is expected that the measurements will show significant increases in mental health and physical well-being. This project won Philanthropy Australia's best large grant award in April 2016.

Youth Opportunities

The Foundation is currently supporting Youth Opportunities to run Personal Leadership Programs, this  is a one day per week training program that runs over a school term. It is offered to year 10 students in schools and organisations across metropolitan and regional South Australia. Using positive psychology and cognitive therapy, the program engages and extends participants knowledge and skills in areas not typically part of their schooling, but are crucially important to life.

Adelaide Youth Orchestras

The James and Diana Ramsay Foundation supports the Adelaide Youth Orchestras through two programs. One is their Elite Training program which assists with the significant costs of delivering professional training for over 200 student musicians each week. Secondly is their ‘Schools Programs’, Australia’s first schools program delivered by a youth orchestra. This program provides support for curriculum resources, school concerts, workshops and the development of new initiatives.

Operation Flinders Foundation

Operation Flinders Foundation is an organisation that runs a world leading wilderness therapy program for young offenders and young people at risk. The program takes participants between the age of 14 and 18 years on an eight day exercise in the far northern Flinders Ranges, providing a transformational experience for its participants to break away from their past and grow as valued members of the community.

The James and Diana Ramsay Foundation have supported significant infrastructure on the remote property where the program is run and is currently supporting teams that will follow on to do the Youth Opportunities program.

Philanthropy Australia

One of the Foundation's core values is to encourage greater awareness of and levels of philanthropy, particularly in South Australia. Philanthropy is not just about financial gifts, but the giving of one’s time and advocacy. The James and Diana Ramsay Foundation have highly engaged relationships with all of our partners, and were very supportive of Philanthropy Australia opening an office in Adelaide for which the Foundation provided seed funding.

State Opera of South Australia

The University of Adelaide

Early Intervention Research Project into youth mental health
The Foundation is funding a researcher at the University of Adelaide’s School of Medicine under the leadership of Professor Bernhard Baune, Head of Psychiatry.  The researcher will conduct bio marker analyses in plasma samples.  Once these analyses are completed, clinical trials will be developed that could radically change clinical practice in the treatment of psychotic illness, as methods of diagnosing such illnesses have not changed in the past 15 to 20 years. We are hoping it will one day help patients change the course of their illness and their lives for the better.

Capacity Grants

From time to time, the Foundation is able to award a small number of capacity grants. These are designed to help build organisation capacity, such as professional development, leadership skills and information technology.

For more information on capacity grants please call the Foundation office.