Applications for the 2026 Fellowships
Applications for the 2026 Arts Fellowships are now open.
Applications close on Sunday, 1 June 2025.
Caroline Plummer Fellowship in Community Dance
Apply for the Caroline Plummer Fellowship in Community Dance 2026
Read more about the Caroline Plummer Fellowship in Community Dance
Robert Burns Fellowship
Apply for the Robert Burns Fellowship 2026
Read more about the Robert Burns Fellowship
Mozart and Frances Hodgkins Fellowships - important announcement
The University of Otago – Ōtākou Whakaihu Waka has decided to temporarily pause awarding two of its Arts Fellowships, with plans to resume them as soon as circumstances allow. The Mozart Fellowship in music, and Frances Hodgkins Fellowship in the visual arts will not be awarded in 2026.
This is not a decision the University has come to lightly. The trust funds that support these two Fellowships have become increasingly at risk of over-allocation over recent years and, while it was initially hoped the Fellowships would be offered for 2026, recent volatility in international investment markets has now created unacceptable levels of risk to the ongoing viability of the funds if this offering were to go ahead.
At times in the past, funding for the Fellowships has been supplemented by the University, however, it is not in a financial position to do this for the 2026 offering. As a result, the Fellowships will be temporarily paused to allow the endowment funds time to recover to a sustainable level. During the pause on these Fellowships, the University will seek philanthropic support and will also look at other options to more sustainably fund these Fellowships.
The University of Otago College of Education Children’s Writer in Residence
The University of Otago College of Education Children’s Writer in Residence will not be offered in 2026. This has been a difficult decision, which we have had to make due to a change in our external funding. The University is committed to seeking funding to be able to resume this important residency in 2027 and beyond. A fundraising campaign to build an endowment fund for the Children’s Writer in Residence is now underway – if successful, we can ensure the future of this residency in perpetuity.
Please support the University of Otago College of Education Children’s Writer in Residence by making a donation via our website (select Children’s Writers in Residence from the drop-down list).
Read more about the Children’s Writer in Residence
For general questions about the Fellowships
Email arts.fellows@otago.ac.nz