Stephen Palmer Travel Bursary Fund 2023

The Stephen Palmer Travel Bursary Fund was launched in 2022 with 10 bursaries awarded. In 2023, a further 10 bursaries will be presented.  

Creative Scotland and Engage Scotland established this Bursary fund to honour Stephen Palmer, a highly regarded and deeply respected Officer and Visual Arts specialist who devoted much of his career to the work of Creative Scotland and its predecessor body the Scottish Arts Council. 

Established following his death in 2021, these annual awards reflect Stephen’s deep belief in the value of travel to broaden horizons, to build new connections and to inform and inspire the development of new work. 

Previous 2022 awardees from across Scotland include: 

Alison Scott, based in Arbroath, who undertakes projects focussed on climate, energy politics, embodied experiences of weather, the commons and collaborative learning;  

Glasgow based Joey Simons who travelled to Great Yarmouth to explore shared elements of radical history;  

and Ukrainian/Canadian artist and educator Ayla Dmyterko, who travelled from Glasgow to the Cairngorm Forest to embark on a residency at the Inshriach Bothy. 

The Bursary has been developed by Creative Scotland in partnership with Engage Scotland, the lead advocacy and training network for visual arts engagement and participation, representing arts educators, organisations, freelancers and artists from across the country.  

The Stephen Palmer Travel Bursary Fund is supported by The National Lottery through Creative Scotland.