Artists’ Benevolent Fund

A crisis is an unexpected and significant event that disrupts your ability to continue your artistic practice.

Examples may include:

Disaster or loss

• Fire, flood, storm or other natural disaster damaging a studio or artworks
• Theft or destruction of essential equipment or materials
• Sudden loss of studio space due to disaster

Serious health events

• Major illness or injury preventing you from working
• Medical emergencies or hospitalisation
• Mental health crises requiring treatment or recovery time

Personal emergencies

• Domestic violence or sudden displacement from housing
• Sudden caring responsibilities arising from illness or accident
• Death of an immediate family member affecting your ability to work

Major practice disruption

• A catastrophic event destroying a significant body of work
• A serious studio accident causing injury or major financial loss

The Fund prioritises sudden, severe events that directly disrupt an artist’s ability to continue their practice, particularly where the situations not covered by insurance or other available support.

The Artists’ Benevolent Fund cannot usually support:

• Ongoing low income or financial hardship
• Lack of sales or exhibition opportunities
• Regular costs of maintaining an art practice
• Professional development or project costs
• Business or career transitions
• Long-term financial stress without a specific crisis event

These issues are real challenges for many artists, but the Fund is limited and must focus on sudden emergencies.

You should consider applying if:

• The crisis is recent 
• It directly affects your ability to continue your practice
• You need immediate assistance to stabilise your situation

Applications are assessed on a rolling basis, subject to the availability of funds.

The Artists’ Benevolent Fund provides one-off payments of $2,000. In exceptional circumstances, and depending on available funds, the assessment panel may consider larger grants where appropriate.

The application process is intentionally simple and non-burdensome, recognising that artists often apply during difficult circumstances.

Applicants are asked to briefly describe:

• The crisis situation
• How the grant will help stabilise their practice

The applicant must be:

• An Australian citizen or resident, and
• A professional practitioner in the visual arts, craft and design, regardless of career stage.

Assessment of whether you can be regarded as a practising artist will be based on how well you meet NAVA’s criteria listed below. No single indicator is determinative. A practising artist may:

• Seek to build a reputation as a professional artist
• Make attempts to bring their work to the public or relevant market
• Have regular public exhibitions of their artwork
• Offer work for sale, or sell artwork
• Have work acquired for public or private collections
• Secure work, commissions or consultancies on the basis of their professional expertise
• Secure residencies, teach, lecture or give public talks
• Be eligible to apply for or have been awarded government grants
• Secure awards or prizes
• Seek philanthropic patronage or sponsorship
• Carry out work in a business-like manner (e.g. keep financial records, have
• Formal written contracts or agreements, have a written business plan)
• Regularly participate in activities designed to promote their work including establishing a website and carrying out other marketing activities
• Achieve industry or peer recognition through published works, critical texts or media profile
• Rent, lease or own space dedicated for an art purpose
• Be professionally qualified or have equivalent experience typical of others in the industry
• Be a Member of a professional association or union (such as NAVA).

The Fund will prioritise applications from artists whose specific disaster situation is not covered by an insurance policy.

NAVA employees and board members are not eligible to apply.

The Artists’ Benevolent Fund was originally established by Bert Flugelman (1923-2013), an internationally renowned painter and sculptor. Twice during his artistic career, Bert suffered severe personal disasters which could have left him destitute, had it not been for the generosity of friends and colleagues in the art world. His appreciation of their support inspired him to see that other professional artists would also have access to financial assistance in times of dire need.

In 1967, in gratitude for the help he had received, Bert offered an Ian Fairweather painting from his collection to be sold, with the proceeds used to establish a fund that could assist visual artists in extreme need. 

Artists Bert Flugelman and Guy Warren, stockbroker Michael Hobbs OAM (1934-2018), lawyer Shane Simpson AM, and accountant Tom Lowenstein OAM served as the trustees of the Benevolent Fund. The National Association for the Visual Arts (NAVA) provided administrative services for the Trust, from 1989 until it dissolved in 2014. 

In 2020, NAVA reinstated the Fund following the devastating bushfires and the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Since then the Fund has distributed:

• $214,000 to 107 artists in 2020
• $78,000 to 39 artists in 2021
• $30,000 to artists affected by the northern NSW floods in 2022

NAVA is subject to obligations associated with its status as a Deductible Gift Recipient (DGR). Any financial assistance provided by NAVA must be consistent with its constitutional objects, including promoting visual arts, craft and design and supporting artists to develop, grow and sustain their artistic practice. 

Consistent with these obligations, the Artists’ Benevolent Fund supports artists who have experienced, or are experiencing, a crisis that significantly affects their ability to continue their artistic practice.

The Artists’ Benevolent Fund operates entirely through donations.

When artists experience a fire, flood, serious illness or other catastrophic event, even a small grant can make the difference between continuing their practice and stopping work altogether.

Because the Fund is limited, every donation directly increases our ability to support artists in crisis.

Your contribution helps ensure that visual artists facing serious emergencies are not left without support.

The National Association for the Visual Arts is a Deductible Gift Recipient under Item 1 of the table in section 30-15 of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997. Donations of $2.00 or more are tax-deductible.

Support the Artists’ Benevolent Fund

Even small donations help - most grants from the Fund are only $2,000.

ClubB50 aims to build a long-term endowment for the Artists’ Benevolent Fund

Alex Seton, Small Obstacle, 2020, Molong marble, 1/50 (to be personally engraved with the supporter's name). Photo by Maja Baska.

The initiative seeks major donors to commit $5,000 per year for 10 years. 

Members of ClubB50 receive a unique artwork by artist Alex Seton, who helped champion the revival of the fund.

NAVA gratefully thanks all donors for their generosity in supporting the Artists' Benevolent Fund.