Iowa Scholarship for the Arts
Application Deadlines & Dates
The Iowa Arts Council must receive your application no later than 4:30 p.m. the day of the deadline listed below. This is NOT a postmark deadline. If the deadline falls on a state holiday or on a Saturday or Sunday, it will be extended to the next working day.
Application Deadline: February 8, annually.
Scholarship Amount: $1,000 to $2,000
The Iowa Arts Council will notify finalists by March 26th. All finalists will be required to attend an interview with the panel in Des Moines on Saturday, April 24th, 2010. Interviews will last approximately 30 minutes.
Scholarships are for college or university costs that will occur during the following academic year: 2010-2011.
A Brief History
In conjunction with the State of Iowa’s Homecoming ’86 celebration, world-renowned opera singer Simon Estes held a benefit concert to establish the Iowa Scholarship for the Arts. From 1986 to 1994 the Iowa Arts Council awarded scholarships to over 20 undergraduate students who excelled in the arts. By 1994, most of the funds raised from the benefit concert had been expended.
In 1996, the Iowa Arts Council, under the leadership of William H. Jackson, established an endowment to guarantee perpetual funding of the Iowa Scholarships for the Arts Program. Initial partners who contributed funds to establish the endowment included Two Rivers Arts Festival and Raccoon River Brewing Company in Des Moines, the Ameristar Casino in Council Bluffs, and private donations by Iowa Arts Council board members and private citizens.
Eligible Students
- You must meet all of the following in order to be eligible for this scholarship:
- You must be an Iowa resident who will graduate from an Iowa high school during the 2008-2009 school year
- You must show proven artistic ability in at least one of these arts areas: dance, literature, music, theatre, traditional arts, and visual arts
- You will need to be accepted as a full-time undergraduate at a fully-accredited
Iowa college or university with a major in one or more of the areas listed
above
Not Eligible: Iowa Arts Council or Young Iowans Cultural Council board or staff, or a member of their immediate family or dependent children.
Scholarship Amounts
Scholarship recipients will receive $1,000 to $2,000 for undergraduate tuition and related expenses to attend Iowa colleges or universities where they are enrolled.
Application Review, Approval & Notification Process
You must meet all of the following eligibility requirements in order to have your application accepted for review:
- The Iowa Arts Council must receive your complete application, including all attachments, by 4:30 p.m. on the day of the deadline (this is not a postmark deadline). Incomplete, illegible, handwritten faxed or emailed applications will not be accepted.
- The following items must be included with the application:
- one-page essay, and
- two letters of recommendation.
Your application, and all others received, will be reviewed by a panel of arts professionals, educators, members of the Iowa Arts Council board, and members of the Young Iowans Cultural Council who are knowledgeable in the arts.
- The panel scores each applicant on the degree to which he/she meets specific review criteria.
- The IAC director makes final award decisions.
- IAC staff will not respond to questions until after the review and approval process is completed and applicants are notified by mail.
Review Criteria
Your application should reflect your sense of dedication to your chosen art discipline.
Panelists will evaluate and score each application based on the following criteria
as demonstrated in the written essay and during the interview:
- Proven artistic and academic abilities in the area of music, dance, literature, theatre, traditional arts, or visual arts.
- Future goals and objectives relating to the intended field of study.
Looking for some help in finding other scholarship information? Visit www.scholarshiphelp.org.
