We are delighted to announce and introduce the three successful artists selected to participate in Nature Foundation's Artist Residency Program for 2025.

Founded in 2019, Nature Foundation's Artist Residency Program offers artists with a professional profile the opportunity to spend up to two weeks at either Witchelina or Hiltaba Nature Reserves.

Nature Foundation provides accommodation and general support for participating artists, including orientation and guidance on the Nature Reserves. We also promote and sell works created from the artists' visits through an exhibition.

The 2025 artists are:

• Stephen Bowers
• Jane Evans
• Emma Neill

Stephen Bowers

Stephen Bowers is an Australian visual artist working in the key areas of drawing, painting and ceramics who has participated in numerous exhibitions, with artwork represented in many public art galleries and museums within Australia and overseas.

Stephen's work is intricate and layered, with a strong conservation narrative that can connect landscape, flora, and fauna through a variety of mediums. 



From left: Kookaburra, Red-tailed Cockatoo, Yellow-rumped Pardalote

 

Jane Evans

Jane Evans is a Nature Foundation volunteer and an award-winning artist from Kangaroo Island, with distinctive and appealing mixed media work, including drawing, painting and printmaking.

Jane's professional background as a Freshwater Biologist, combined with her artistic skills and experience, gives her a unique ability to intricately understand the natural environment and interpret it into engaging works of art.
'Kangaroo Island's Eastern Spinebill and Grevillea'

 

Emma Neill

Emma Neill is an emerging artist living and practising on a farm in the Adelaide Hills, using drawing and painting mediums.

Emma's artworks aim to express her daily experiences and emotions, as well as living and exploring farm life and rural South Australia. She wants her audience to step back from the everyday bustle and be present with her paintings, reflecting on nature and the world before towns became cities.


'Resting Beneath the Gum'


Thank you to all artists who applied to participate in this year's residency program and to our Artist Residency Program Advisory Group—Catherine Bourne, Kirsty Darleson, and Peter Hastwell—who reviewed all applications and assisted with the selection process.

We wish the three artists all the best for their residencies and look forward to seeing the artworks inspired by Witchelina and Hiltaba Nature Reserves.

These artworks will be presented at an exhibition in 2026. To be notified, subscribe below to our email updates or follow our social media accounts.

We eagerly anticipate the exhibition of the 2024 residency program artists' work at The Gallery at St Peters from 3 October to 15 November 2025 as part of the Nature's Foundations 4 exhibition. We will share further updates closer to the date.

Nature Foundation gratefully acknowledges the Artist Residency Program sponsorship by the Helen James Endowment Fund.

Top feature image: Nonning Shed #2 by Emma Neil. Please note this artwork has been cropped to square from the original for this use.