A Millicent man has been awarded a prestigious Churchill Fellowship Award, to pursue his love of the arts.
32-year-old Lewis Major was last week announced as a recipient of the award, which offers a life-changing opportunity to meet and work with global leaders to gain and exchange knowledge.
The acclaimed performer, choreographer and entrepreneur – who has worked throughout Australia and internationally – said the award would enable him to better himself, industry, community and Australia.
“I was humbled to be announced as recipient of the Dame Roma Mitchell Churchill Fellowship for the pursuit of excellence in the performing arts and offer my sincere appreciation to the Winston Churchill Trust and the estate of Dame Roma Mitchell for this great honour,” he said.
“This prestigious fellowship will allow me to spend time overseas in 2021, investigating and researching innovative business models in arts and cultural organisations, for the purpose of increasing knowledge, entrepreneurialism and capacity in the Australian arts sector.
“It is an honour and a privilege to be recognised in a community of Churchill Fellows doing such influential work around the country, tirelessly working for the betterment of their respective industries, their communities and Australia.
“While we await border restrictions to ease, I am using this time as an opportunity to continue my work advocating for a stronger, more resilient Australian arts sector, establishing and building international relationships virtually and connecting and networking with other Fellows across Australia.”
Mr Major was among 112 people to receive the awards, which this year focussed on “creating excitement and forward momentum” for the recipients, according to Churchill Trust chief executive Adam Davey.
“With international travel on hold for some time due to COVID- 19, we will be supporting our new Churchill Fellowship recipients in making good use of this additional preparation time by connecting them with some of our highly achieved Churchill Fellows who work in similar fields or project areas via virtual networking and collaboration events,” he said.
“Churchill Fellowships recognise people with passion and drive, providing an unrivalled opportunity and freedom for people to engage with world’s best practice on issues that matter to Australian communities.
“We have an incredible network of Churchill Fellows who can assist our new Fellowship recipients to connect with some of the people they plan to meet around the world, keeping their projects alive by growing their global networks.”
This year Churchill Fellowships have been awarded to people from cities and towns across Australia including 25 from NSW, 26 from Victoria, 16 from Queensland, 15 from WA, 6 from the ACT, 9 from SA, 9 from Tasmania and 6 from the NT.
