SYDNEY.- Queensland artist Visaya Hoffie has been awarded the 27th annual Brett Whiteley Travelling Art Scholarship, announced today at the Art Gallery of New South Wales. The prestigious annual painting award offers one artist aged between 20 and 30 a three-month residency at the Cité Internationale des Arts in Paris and $50,000 in funding to further their art education in Europe.

Five additional artists were each awarded $10,000 and a two-week residency at Shark Island Institute Kangaroo Valley, NSW. This year, the five recipients of Shark Island residencies are Casey Chen (NSW), Gigi Malherbe (NSW), Jacob Davidson (NSW), Naoise Halloran-Mackay (VIC) and Tresor Murace (NSW).

Hoffie is a previous scholarship finalist and a former recipient of a Shark Island Kangaroo Valley residency, which she attended in November 2023. She is also the subject of her mother Pat Hoffie’s Archibald Prize 2021 finalist work, Visaya in a c-collar, for which the artist received a highly commended award.

The 2025 Brett Whiteley Travelling Art Scholarship has marked a record-breaking year, receiving 206 entries from across Australia – the highest number of entries received since 2000. This year’s guest judge, Sydney artist Joan Ross, selected 10 finalists and six scholarship recipients.

Ross said: ‘I was excited to see such diverse approaches to painting and experimentation with materials across the fantastic entries we received. I see painting in broad terms, and I was heavily influenced by Brett Whiteley when I was at art school. I thought of how expansive his practice was for the times and chose to look at the entries through those innovative eyes.’

Ross observed the development in Hoffie’s practice in the years since her Shark Island Kangaroo Valley residency, saying: ‘Visaya is hungry to process the world and you can feel the energy in her work. It evokes a feeling of performance; of someone trying to make sense of the post-internet world. Her work is immediately readable, has a visceral approach and is right at the front of contemporary culture. I think being in Paris will be perfect for her.’

Hoffie will undertake the Paris residency from July to September 2026. Meanwhile, the five Shark Island Kangaroo Valley scholarship recipients will attend the Kangaroo Valley residency in November 2025, where they will participate in a special curriculum of events and programs designed to support the development of new work.

Art Gallery of New South Wales director Maud Page said the value of residency opportunities for emerging artists cannot be understated.

‘The Brett Whiteley Travelling Art Scholarship honours the spirit of one of Australia’s most celebrated artists by investing in the next generation of creative talent. This year’s finalists demonstrate the remarkable vitality and breadth of emerging Australian painting,’ said Page.

‘Thanks to the generosity of our partners Cité Internationale des Arts and Shark Island Kangaroo Valley, artists like Visaya Hoffie and her peers can receive truly transformative opportunities and devote themselves to their artmaking. We are very proud to be able to support these artists at such a pivotal moment in their careers.’

The Brett Whiteley Travelling Art Scholarship was established in 1999 by Beryl Whiteley (1917-2010) to commemorate the profound impact international travel and study had on her son, artist Brett Whiteley, who won the Italian Government Travelling Art Scholarship at the age of 20. The scholarship is administered by the Brett Whiteley Studio and the Art Gallery of New South Wales.

Now in its 27th year, the scholarship continues to offer both domestic and international travel opportunities to support a greater number of emerging artists. The Art Gallery first introduced the Shark Island Kangaroo Valley residency in 2020 in response to Covid-19-related international travel restrictions. Since then, it has remained a valued component of the program, providing artists with a unique opportunity to create new work in a focused environment, while receiving guidance from established artists and curators.

An additional four finalists were selected in 2025; Harrison Witsey (NSW), Noah Joe Draper (NSW), Ondine Seabrook (NSW) and Remy Faint (NSW). Each of these finalists will receive $1000. All finalist and scholarship recipient’s artworks are on display in a free exhibition at the Art Gallery of New South Wales’ Naala Nura building until Sunday 23 November while building upgrades continue at the Brett Whiteley Studio in Surry Hills.