Find out about Fellowships, Scholarships, Bursaries and Residencies

Botanical artists benefit from opportunities for funding or tuition, 
which helps them develop their knowledge, skills and careers as botanical artists
This page covers
  • Fellowships
  • Artist Residencies
  • Travel Scholarships
  • Bursaries​
Those specifically covered are:
  • Margaret Mee Fellowship Programme (Botanical Art) - Artist Scholars
  • Oak Spring Garden Foundation - Artist Residency
  • Denver Botanic Gardens' School of Botanical Art and Illustration - Artist Residency
  • Royal College of Physicians - Artist in Residence​ (discontinued)
  • Winston Churchill Memorial Trust - Travel Scholarships
  • Royal Horticultural Society - Dawn Joliffe Bursary Award

Please note not all are current, but are included to provide ideas and guidance for other organisations also wishing to develop and provide support.

Please let me know of any other opportunities worth highlighting to those endeavouring to develop their education, experience and skills. (please complete form at the bottom of this page)

Fellowships 

Margaret Mee Fellowship Programme
​(Botanical Art)
​
Objectives
  • Promoting the ideals of Margaret Mee, The Margaret Mee Fellowship Programme (MMFP) currently endeavours to provide funding in any year to enable one Artist Scholar to be tutored, at Kew, for five months by Christabel King.
Outputs
  • Ten plant watercolour portraits from each Artist Scholar.
  • An exhibition of each Artist Scholar's work (their portfolio often including their competition submissions) at the end of their time at Kew.

The MMFP (administered by the Foundation and Friends of the RBG Kew) enables Brazilian botanical illustrators to study in the UK. 
Gustavo Marigo is one of the Margaret Mee Scholars - funded by the Margaret Mee Fellowship - who are taught at Kew by Christobel King. Marigo was the MM Scholar in Botanical Art in 2015. They are pictured in the Brazil - a powerhouse of plants exhibition at Kew in 2016 - see Christobel King and the Margaret Mee Artist Scholars​

​Banner Image: Gustavo Marigo with two of his paintings at Kew
Gustavo Marigo is an award winning natural history and botanical illustrator (MM Scholar 2015). In 2016 he won 2nd prize in the Margaret Flockton Award and had three of his paintings (purchased by Shirley Sherwood) included in 'Brazil - A Powerhouse of Plants' exhibition at the Shirley Sherwood Gallery at Kew. Currently he works on illustration commissions for scientific articles and books and teaches via workshops at the Botanical Garden of Rio de Janeiro plus classes, courses and private lessons. 

Margaret Mee Fellowship Programme Artist Scholars at Kew
​

1989-1999
​
  • Malena Barretto, Rio de Janeiro, 1989
  • Dulce Nascimento, Rio de Janeiro, 1990
  • Hiroe Sasaki, São Paulo, 1991
  • Maria Teresa Reif, Rio de Janeiro, 1992
  • Cecília Tomasi, São Paulo, 1993
  • Regina Julianelle, Rio de Janeiro, 1994
  • Paulo Ormindo, Rio de Janeiro, 1995
  • Sílvia Cordeiro, Belém, 1996
  • Diana Carneiro, Curitiba, 1997
  • Sérgio Allevato, Rio de Janeiro, 1998
  • Fatima Zagonel, Curitiba, 1999
2000-2009
​
  • Anelise Scherer, São Leopoldo, 2000
  • Marcos Silva, Brasilia, 2001
  • Jeanitto Gentilini, Brasilia, 2002
  • Ana Carolina Bassi Cunha, Curitiba, 2003
  • Maria Alice de Rezende, Rio de Janeiro, 2004
  • Rosane Quintella, Curitiba, 2005 
  • Renato Moraes, Rio de Janeiro, 2006
  • Parecis Morato, São Paulo, 2007
  • no scholarship 2008
  • Isabel Lima del Siva Belo Horizonte 2009
2010- date
​
  • no scholarships 2010 - 2014
  • Gustavo Marigo, Rio de Janeiro 2015
  • Alessandro Cândido, Curitiba 2016
  • no scholarship 2017
  • Gustavo Surlo, Salvador, Bahia 2018


Picture
Sketch of Margaret Mee's Paintbox on display at Kew Gardens

Artists in Residence

NEW Oak Spring Garden Foundation: Residency
​
Picture
The Oak Spring Estate - home to the Oak Spring Garden Foundation - from above (House and gardens bottom left and Library top left) in Upperville, Virginia
This is about the new  Botanical Artists in Residence Program (BAiR) offered by the Oak Spring Garden Foundation.

VENUE

The residency will be at the Oak Spring estate in Upperville, Virginia - the former home of  Rachel "Bunny" Mellon who was a philanthropist and patron and botanical art book and art collector.  ​
ARTISTS IN RESIDENCE (2020-date)
​
The four botanical artists selected for the 2020 Residencies (of between 2 and 4 weeks) are: My blog post Four botanical artists selected for residency at Oak Spring Garden provides profiles of the prior experience and achievements of the artists

THE 2020 RESIDENCY

What was on offer
  • stay at the Oak Spring estate in Upperville, Virginia - with accommodation and 24-hour access to studio space. 
  • for a minimum of two weeks and a maximum of four weeks sometime during the period April 1 – May 22, 2020.
  • ground transportation to/from Oak Spring (from either Dulles Airport or Union Station).

THE 2021 RESIDENCY

The Call for Applications for 2021 will be published later this year.

Denver Botanic Gardens' School of Botanical Art & Illustration: Residency
​
Picture
Denver Botanic Garden from above
This is about the Call for Applications for the 2020 Residency Programme at the Denver Botanic Gardens
​
CLICK the "Learn More" button above to access the pdf which provides full details. 

ARTISTS IN RESIDENCE
The SBAI at Denver Botanic Gardens has had a number of botanical artists participate in their Residency Programme including:
DURATION OF THE 2020 RESIDENCY
​
  • six weeks between June 9 and October 9, 2020.
  • 40 hours a week engaged in residency activities, ideally Monday through Friday although some flexibility is possible.
  • Optional professional development opportunities like lectures or programs may also be available to the resident during evenings and weekends.

SCOPE OF THE RESIDENCY

The scope of this residency features two key elements:
  1. Creation of a body of work supporting the mission of Denver Botanic Gardens, particularly focused on plants native to Colorado and the Rocky Mountain region. 
  2. Leading one 3-day workshop for 12 students in the Gardens’ School of Botanical Art and Illustration. This workshop will focus on a technique or media that the resident specializes in, subject to the approval of the Gardens. Dates of the workshop will be determined based on the residency timeframe. PLUS interaction with visitors is optional though highly encouraged, promoting public understanding and appreciation of the natural world and offering an opportunity for visitors to see the Gardens through the eyes of an artist. 

FUNDING AND RESOURCES
The resident must provide their own art supplies and equipment, as well as their own travel,
transportation, accommodation and related living expenses. However the Gardens offer:
  • a stipend of $4,000 paid up front to offset costs of travel and transportation, art supplies, and living expenses.
  • The Gardens offers space to work inside or outdoors en plein air and access to the Gardens’ collections, including pressed plants, preserved fungi, and other preserved herbaria collections, living plant collections, rare books, archival materials, art collections, and books and periodicals in the Garden’s library.

ELIGIBILITY

The residency is open to
  • all illustrators who have completed a certificate program in scientific illustration, botanical art or illustration, nature illustration or equivalent qualification or experience. 
  • Artists working in all media
  • International applicants who are proficient in English are encouraged, although additional tax documentation may be required.

Royal College of Physicians:
​Artist in Residence
​
 The Royal College of Physicians in London has had a medicinal garden since 1965.

Between 2010 and 2015 it offered a one year residency for an artist. This involved an exhibition of the artwork produced at the end of the year.

EXAMPLE: The artists who have become artist in residence are:
Since 2015, the RCP have had a group of artists who worked to produce a Florilegium Exhibition for the RCO's 500th anniversary - see my blog post about the Illustrated College Herbal Exhibition at the Royal College of Physicians

I'm afraid I'm not aware of any proposals to resurrect the "artist in residence" scheme - however it is a useful model for others wishing to develop a similar proposal.

Travel Scholarships

Winston Churchill Memorial Trust
​
Botanical artists have successfully applied for travel scholarships to paint plants in different parts of the world.  

The Trust will NOT fund:
  • projects which only benefit the individual and show no potential for wider benefit
  • applications for art projects that will result in only an exhibition, and have no benefits beyond raising the profile and expertise of the individual 

EXAMPLE: Caroline Frances-King was awarded a travelling fellowship to travel to China to paint plants discovered by the Irish plant collector Augustine Henry in the late 1800’s.

Bursaries

RHS - Dawn Joliffe Botanical Art Award
​
This is the only RHS Bursary dedicated to botanical art.

The Dawn Jolliffe Botanical Art Bursary was established in in June 2005 to
EITHER: assist a botanical artist to exhibit at one of the RHS shows,
OR: to travel in order to paint and/or draw plants in their natural habitats.

In terms of who can apply for the bursary:
  • Preference will be given to artists who are not yet established.
  • The value of the award will be up to a maximum of £1,000.
  • This bursary is to be awarded annually by the RHS Bursaries Committee in association with the RHS Picture Committee.
RHS Bursary recipients produce reports from their experiences which are judged by the RHS Bursaries & Awards Committee. The best of these reports receive prizes
PLEASE USE THE FORM to let me know about any any other opportunities - anywhere in the world - worth highlighting to those endeavouring to develop their education, experience and skills.

I need to know:
  • Nature and Type of Support (e.g. access to resources; tuition; financial)
  • Scope and purpose of Support
  • Eligibility Criteria
  • URL of website for further information
  • ​Any Other Constraints e.g. English speaking only; eligibility limited to residents of specific countries and/or with specific qualifications

    Fellowships, Scholarships, Bursaries, Grants and Artist Residencies
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