With the birth of her first child, multi-award-winning composer and producer Elise Reitze-Swensen found herself at an artistic crossroads – how to continue pursuing her professional career while also embracing motherhood.

But as in music, timing is everything, and in 2024 while on maternity leave Elise grabbed the opportunity to submit an Expression of Interest (EOI) to the Minderoo Foundation Artist Fund, which supports mid-career artists to tackle new ideas and contribute to the cultural landscape of WA. 

“Being a new parent, I was very much aware that it’s a time where you can easily, I suppose, lose momentum... I applied and was very lucky to get through the rounds of application and be successful,” Reitze-Swensen says.

“The funding that I received from the Minderoo Foundation has given me the time and capacity to create a new body of work, a 20-track electronic album on the theme of ‘matrescence’ – the social, psychological and physical changes experienced during pregnancy, childbirth and new motherhood,” she explains.

“I suppose it explores the huge life transition that new mothers go through, and the album tells these stories from one of the most geographically isolated cities in the world, which is Perth, Western Australia.”

The Artist Fund is designed to elevate the professional practice of mid-career artists who are at a critical point in their creative journey. Over the past five years, the fund has supported a diverse range of artists who continue to shape the cultural landscape in innovative and impactful ways.

From visual artists to dancers, musicians to writers, the fund provides the support needed to tackle new challenges, evolve artistic practice and make lasting contributions to the community.

This invaluable support allows artists to focus on their creative projects without financial constraints, encouraging them to take bold risks and explore new directions. All art forms are welcome and there are no restrictions on the type of project proposed.

But that’s not all – those selected for the 2026 cohort will also be in the running for the prestigious Minderoo Artist Award, a $50,000 prize presented to an outstanding artist by the judging panel.

One of the many success stories to come from the Artist Fund Award is Perth-based writer Holden Sheppard, who is now finalising Yeah the Boys, a novel he wrote with the support of the Artist Fund as the sequel to his award-winning debut novel Invisible Boys.

When Sheppard’s project was selected for the Award, he says he embraced the opportunity to deepen his artist practice even further, tackling the stories he wants to tell, where “everything is allowed.”

“What I’ve done with the (Invisible Boys) sequel is revisit those boys when they are young men. At the core of the story is the relationship between gay men and masculinity, the relationship between gay men and football, specifically Aussie Rules. I’m a big footy fan. My characters play it. What I wanted to do was do the deep dive,” he said.

With time to focus solely on his artistic practice, Sheppard found new inspiration began to emerge.

“There were real time instances of homophobia in the AFL while I was writing this book, so how do I respond to all of that as an artist? Having the Artist Fund grant gave me the time to put something together that could comprehensively respond to all of it.”