Arizona Artists Guild (AAG) is pleased to announce the 30th annual call for applicants for the AAG Visual Arts Scholarships. On average 6 scholarships are awarded each spring. Since inception, AAG has awarded over $100,000 in scholarships.
Thanks to generous donations from a number of various donors over the years, AAG has been able to award over $100,000.00 in scholarships since the start of the program in 1993. Each year full-time fine art students from Arizona’s universities and community colleges are able to apply for these awards.
The primary focus for each applicant should be quality, a cohesive body of work and clear documentation, along with a well written personal statement. Juror decisions are based mainly on quality of submissions, as well as the provided statement. The award money winners receive is directly deposited into the student’s college bursar account for the following fall semester.
For Scholarship award information, please read below. To download the application for the AAG Scholarship click here: 2023 Application. For a list of previous recipients and to see images of their work, please CLICK HERE. To read about some of our donors please scroll down.
Click here to for the printable flyer.
Scholarship Information
Important Dates:
Deadline to submit: Extended to January 26, 2023 | Midnight
Notification: via email by January 29, 2023
Drop off dates: February 9, 2023 | 8:00am-10:00 am (or other times by appointment))
Show dates: February 13-March 22, 2023
Award Ceremony, reception and presentation at AAG: March 21, 2023 6:30-9:00 pm
Pick up dates: March 23, 2023 8:00-10:00 AM (other times by appointment)
AAG is partnering with two prominent arts organizations to provide the funding for the Scholarship Awards:
• Arizona Watercolor Association will award up to $3000 to student/s working with Water Media (watercolor, water based ink, etc) .
• Arizona Clay Association will award $1000 to a student working in Ceramics
Monies Awarded:
A total of $10,000 will be awarded.
Marigold Linton Scholarship $1000 |Marigold Linton Sculpture Scholarship $1000 | Ruth Magadini Scholarship $1000 | Erin O’Dell Scholarship $1000 | AAG|AWA-Del Decil Scholarship up to $3000 each for watermedia | AAG-Az Clay Association $1000 | AAG Scholarship up to $2000.
AAG Curran-Bleakney Scholarship $1200.
Note: Applicants applying for the AAG-AWA-Del Decil and/or the AAG-AzClay will also be considered for the non-media specific awards. Please be sure to indicate if you would like to be considered for the media-specific awards.
AAG Erin O’Dell Scholarship
Erin O’Dell, a Phoenix native, received her Bachelor of fine Arts degree in Textile Design from Moore College of Art in Philadelphia, PA. Later she returned to Moore as an instructor teaching Museum Research: History of Textiles. A commercial artist for fourteen years, she designed textile and paper products in Philadelphia, New York and Arizona. As her interest in Fine Arts grew, she studied watercolor in Mexico, Jamaica, Ireland, Italy and Guatemala. A Juried Member of the Arizona Artists Guild, she is listed in Who’s Who in American Art and American Artists of Renown. A longtime member of AAG, she passed away in June, 2012 and instructed that her estate establish a perpetual scholarship in her name to be administered annually by the Arizona Artists Guild.
AAG Ruth S. Magadini Scholarship
Ruth Magadini, a devoted arts advocate and Arizona Artists Guild member since 1956, held many leadership positions in AAG during her 48-year membership. In 1964 she originated the annual spring “Garden Art Sale”, now at the Shemer Art Center, owned galleries in Hilton village and Craftsman’s Court in Scottsdale and in the 1990’s sponsored an Art Co-Op “Gallery 19” for AAG members. In addition, Ruth was also an accomplished writer, publishing two novels, “Enchanted” and “Showdown” before her death in 2004. Born in Massachusetts, she received her education at the New England School of Art in Boston and at Syracuse University.
AWA/Del Decil Student Scholarship Award for Water Media
AAG has partnered with the Arizona Watercolor Association (AWA) scholarship program which is based, in part, on a monetary legacy bequeathed from the Del Decil estate to AWA for student scholarships. This program offers up to three (3) scholarships of $1000 each, to be awarded to the student (s) whose artwork demonstrates artistic merit and achievement in the discipliine of water- media. The winning student (s) receives a scholarship of $1000 to the school of their choice for tuition/books/art materials. Water Media includes: watercolor, gouache, acrylic paint, inks, casein paint & tempera, water-soluble pencil or crayons when used in a painting manner and at least partially dissolved. May combine with pencil or pen/ink. Surface: Paper, illustration board, Yupo, watercolor board, canvas. Stella Waters Decil (Del) was a prolific oil and watercolor artist and longtime member of AWA. A popular workshop instructor and juror in Arizona and New Mexico, she was a teacher of painting and drawing for the Phoenix Art Museum, Phoenix Parks and Recreation Department. She critiqued art students at Maricopa Tech and was a juror of the Youth Division AZ State Fair. She was published in numerous magazines and newspapers, and her paintings hung in several collections in 20 states.
AAG|Az Clay Association Scholarship Award for Ceramics:
Arizona Clay Association is a visual arts organization made up primarily of visual artists working with clay. The organization mission is to encourage fellowship, exchange ideas and information through workshops, meetings, exhibitions, shows and sales; and increase the public awareness and appreciation of the Ceramic Arts. Az Clay provides a $1000 scholarship for college students working with clay. Applicants may include work with any clay, glaze or firing schedule. Multi-media entries should be at least 75% ceramic for consideration
AAG Curran-Bleakney Scholarship
Long-standing AAG member Pam Bleakney’s mother Helen Curran, took George Eliot’s quote “It is never too late to be what you might have been” to heart and in her early 70’s started studying watercolor at Cochise College in Sierra Vista, AZ. She was persistent, striving for a painting a day. By the time she passed at 84 in 1997, she was an accomplished artist. Upon retiring Pam followed her example, studying at Glendale Community College in Glendale, Arizona. This scholarship is a way for them to give back to the art community that “blessed both of us”.
Membership:
All three arts organizations (AAG, AWA, Az CLAY) offer all awardees an honorary membership for one year. This provides opportunities for growth in networking, leadership and mentoring along with juried exhibition opportunities and workshop engagement. Recipients can enjoy the benefits of networking with over 350 local artists, participating in exhibitions, workshops, professional opportunities and in other AAG, AWA and/or Az Clay Association activities. Such an opportunity is great (especially for students) for gaining experience in working within an arts organization and among dedicated artists as well as for boosting one’s resume. All applicants are encouraged to become members and active participants in one of Arizona’s oldest and finest arts organizations!
The Application Process:
Click here for the application. Fill out all sections. Email all materials to AAGScholarship@gmail.com
Application Requirements:
Applicants must be a studio/fine [visual] arts undergraduate or graduate major.
An unofficial transcript:
A current and full unofficial transcript. Sent with the application.
–Resume: A 1- 1 ½ page (word doc) resume highlighting your education, related experience and affiliations, awards and exhibitions. Keep it within the past 5 years.
–Digital JPEG Images: Submit via email jpeg images of 3 of your current (of the past 2 years) works of art. Artists may present one additional detail image per artwork, for up to 6 images total. Size requirements are 300 DPI and no larger than 2000 pixels at the longest dimension. Each image must be saved with the last name of the artist and the number corresponding to the image list described below (i.e., Smith-1.jpeg).
–Video, performance and/or sound based work are eligible to submit. If there is a component of a physical piece, which is electronic or kinetic, etc. please describe it in the “mediums” part of your image list. However, the work may not be included in the exhibition due to space constraints. Applicants with new media work may inquire further to discuss appropriate presentation of work for viewing.
–Image List: Please include a list of your artwork: image number, title, year, medium and dimensions in inches. If it is a detail, write “detail” next to the title. Numbers should correspond with the jpeg image names. The applicant’s name should be at the top of the numbered list.
–Personal Statement: Please include, 300-600 words, word doc. Briefly describe your submitted artwork and the rationale for its creation. State your educational and/or career goals, in relation to your interest in the arts. Describe your aspirations, and what values you hold important in your development.
Characteristics of Winning Entries:
1. Choice of Artwork: The artwork is the most important part of the application. Although the panel of jurors differs each year, in general, jurors want to see cohesive quality work. Applicant’s chosen pieces should be strong and relate to each other (i.e. style, medium, theme etc.).
2. Complete applications: Incomplete applications will not be considered.
3. Concise writing: The personal statement offers the jurors additional insight into the work, providing context and details that may not be apparent in the images.
4. Timely applications: Late applications will not be considered. Applications must be emailed by the deadline stated in the application.
5. Quality Images: Poor image quality takes away from the work. Images should be clear, sharp and well lit. Blurry images cannot be juried. Avoid distracting backgrounds.
Rules:
Applicants must be continuing, full-time undergraduate or graduate students in a fine/studio arts program at a college or university in Arizona. The application is open to international students as long as all requirements are met. State residency is not a requirement.
Applicants must have a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher and all artwork must be original and not more than 2 years old.
Previous winners of an AAG scholarship are ineligible. Students should apply as many times as possible as long as all requirements are met. Many applicants apply 2-3 times before they are awarded.
Winners must be willing to exhibit the work submitted, plus 1-3 additional pieces, and are available to give a short presentation at the award reception and at the AAG meeting. Please see the timeline below for details.
Be sure to use the checklist on the application and adhere to the timeline below. Agreement forms must be signed.
Submission materials cannot be returned to the applicants. All application packets must be emailed to: AAGScholarship@gmail.com
Questions: Contact Scholarship Director, AAGScholarship@gmail.com
Download the 2023 Application
To see samples of previous winners work, please CLICK HERE
