The Copland Foundation Attingham Scholarships

Attingham Summer School

  This program was first held in 1952. The Summer School has three main purposes:

• to examine the architectural and social history of the historic house in Britain and its gardens and landscape setting
• to study the contents of these buildings- their paintings, sculpture, furniture, ceramics, silver, textiles and other applied arts - as well as the planning, decorative treatment and use of the interiors
• to stimulate debate on the problems relating to the conservation and presentation of the country house and its contents

Attingham scholars usually study approximately 25 country houses - usually on specially arranged visits - accompanied by specialist staff tutors and visiting lecturers. Seminars and lectures set the country house in a broader artistic and social context, and time is given for discussion and for developing contacts, a popular and important ingredient of the course. A specialism cannot always be studied in depth, but there are excellent opportunities to broaden one’s knowledge of architecture and the decorative arts.

Royal Collection Studies

The Royal Collection Studies was established in 1996 and is an annual course organised on behalf of the Royal Collection Trust by the Attingham Trust.

Based near Windsor, with visits to both occupied and unoccupied palaces in and around London, it studies the patronage and collecting of the Kings and Queens of England from the 15th century onwards. The teaching includes lectures and tutorials, as well as visits to both the occupied and unoccupied palaces in and around London. As the School is held during a period when the Royal Family is not in residence, Windsor Castle forms a central theme. The course is primarily intended for those professionally engaged in relevant work, including curators, academics, architects, conservators and art market experts.

Attingham Study Programme

The Attingham Study Programme is a nine day course studying historic houses and their collections within a social history context in specific regions of Britain and occasionally abroad. Each year there is a completely new programme which concentrates on about twenty houses in a specified region. Comprehensive study of each property includes its architecture, the fine and decorative arts, interiors, garden design and ownership. This programme is designed for museum curators, lecturers, architects, conservationists and art market experts, as well as more general enthusiasts interested in the fine and decorative arts. While many participants have been on other Attingham courses, this is not a pre-requisite for attendance.

Applicant Guidelines

  To be eligible to receive the Copland Foundation Attingham Scholarship, an applicant must be:

• an Australian citizen
• resident in Australia if applying for an Alex Copland Scholarship
• at the time of application and if selected as the recipient, employed within:
  • the field of art, including art restoration
  • the field of furniture restoration
  • a fine or decorative art public gallery
  • a historic house museum, or
  • any other museum which is significantly involved in the acquisition and conservation of fine or decorative art, or furniture
  • the field of heritage architecture

Applicants should also be aware that they are ambassadors for both the Copland Foundation and the organisation for which they work. Scholarship recipients are expected to conduct themselves accordingly.

Additional Criteria

Preference will be given to applicants who:

• are in the middle stage of their career development, and have a proven track record of working with collections, conservation or historic houses.
• occupy a senior position in their organaisation.
• give something back to their organisation and/or community above and beyond the requirements of their salaried position.
• show an ability to significantly contribute to development in the fields of heritage houses, conservation and/or fine and decorative arts within Australia.
• are highly motivated and committed to further education, and who display confidence when addressing members of general public or a group of their peers.
• would benefit from exposure to international institutions and professionals, and would be an active contributor to debate during the Summer School. 

Applications

  All applications for the Scholarship must be in the form as set out.

Awarding of Scholarships

The Scholarships will be awarded by the Trustees of the Copland Foundation, based on the recommendations of a pre-selection committee of Australian Attingham alumni. The decision of the Trustees will be final and conclusive, and no correspondence will be entered into. No materials submitted will be returned.

Notification of Awards

The successful recipients will be advised as soon as possible of the award.

Acknowledgement & Report

Every recipient will be required to acknowledge the assistance of the Scholarship in any reports or articles, either published or unpublished. Copies of such material (including the report sent directly to the Attingham Trust) and any publicity surrounding the Scholarship recipient must be forwarded to the Copland Foundation.  Within 3 months of the conclusion of the Attingham Summer School, a lecture (The Alex Copland Lecture) based on the activity supported by the Scholarship must be presented by the scholarship recipient and hosted by the recipient's employer. The target audience is at the discretion of the employer, however the Trustees of the Copland Foundation must be invited to attend.

Scholarship Recipients

Back to Top