Gertrude is delighted to announce that Quandamooka artist Megan Cope has been awarded the inaugural Helen O’Sullivan Artist Fellowship from Sheila Foundation. The $25,000 fellowship supports contemporary women artists at a critical stage in their careers, helping fund the development, presentation and documentation of new work at a contemporary art space within the Contemporary Art Organisations Australia (CAOA) network.
The fellowship will support Cope’s ambitious new project, Tides that Bind, which will be developed with and presented at Gertrude Contemporary in August 2027.
The project extends Cope’s ongoing exploration of Indigenous knowledge systems, ecological care and custodial responsibility. Focusing on the waterways of the Kulin Nation and native flat oyster (Ostrea angasi) reefs in Port Phillip Bay, the project will involve collaboration with local marine ecology groups.
Through a series of public workshops, participants will contribute to improving the marine ecosystem of Port Phillip Bay while collectively producing artworks that draw attention to environmental degradation and explore Aboriginal approaches to ecological care.
Cope is a multidisciplinary artist from the Moreton Bay region of South East Queensland. Her socially engaged practice explores Indigenous stewardship, cultural continuity and custodial ethics, often involving community collaboration and public participation. She is a member of the Aboriginal artist collective proppaNOW and is represented by Milani Gallery in Meanjin Brisbane. In 2024, she received the Creative Australia Award for Emerging and Experimental Arts.
The Helen O’Sullivan Artist Fellowship is part of Sheila Foundation’s work to address gender inequality in Australian art and support contemporary women practitioners.