The $1500 grant will help Ms Page to attend a month-long residency in Lightning Ridge. She will research the lived experience of female settlers in an isolated, desert-like landscape, concentrating on everyday domestic objects.

Ms Page said she was honoured and grateful. "The bursary will assist me enormously in consolidating my skills while remaining a proud Armidale resident."

She is completing a Bachelor of Art and Design at Southern Cross University. She has exhibited at the Armidale Art Gallery, and been the President of the New England Art Society. Her work takes components of domesticity, and reassembles their representations into large-scale paintings.

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"Residencies are vitally important for artists such as myself," Ms Page said. "They allow artists to immerse themselves in self-directed research and creativity.

The residency will give her access to to specialist archives, collections, and museums.

"It will allow me the space and time to focus on enriching my practice away from the restrictions and pressures of everyday life," she said. "Working in a new environment will provide the opportunity to develop work and creatively explore new ideas."

The award, now in its third year, was established in memory of local arts supporter Helen Dangar (1944-2015) to celebrate her contribution to the region's cultural life, and to continue her generosity, passion, and support for the arts.

Each year, the bursary enables a New England artist to develop their creative practice and advance their career.

NERAM director Rachael Parsons said the gallery received an excellent standard of applications with interesting proposals.

The gallery thanked Bill Dangar, the Dangar family, Friends of NERAM, Packsaddle, and the donors and supporters who established and built the Bursary fund.

Artists from across New England will be able to apply for the 2020 bursary in August.