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IAC Scholarship Demand Outweighs Supply
The selection process for the Iowa Scholarship for the Arts is underway. Scholarship
coordinator Sarah Ekstrand said there were more than 90 applications received
this year, an increase over the last few years and evidence of the need for this
resource.
The Iowa Scholarship for the Arts was first offered in 1986 when world-renowned opera singer Simon Estes held a benefit concert to fund the scholarship. The money raised was used for eight years and given to more than 20 Iowa students who excelled in the arts and wished to pursue creative endeavors at the college level. By 1994 most of the funds had been expended, but two years later, a new fund was established that guaranteed perpetual funding of the Iowa Scholarships for the Arts program.
Twenty years later, the fund remains at just more than $100,000, the annual interest of which is provided to three to five students, providing each between $1,000 and $1,500. Each student must attend an Iowa high school and be planning to attend an Iowa college or university to major in an artistic discipline. But with the rising cost of tuition, room, board and books, students in need of financial aid are finding the dollars hard to come by, and what the IAC scholarship can provide is little in comparison to today’s tuition figures.
“Many people don’t realize this scholarship fund is open for donations from the public,” said Mary Sundet Jones, IAC Administrator. “We would love to build this fund so that we can really develop this scholarship opportunity as a substantial way to support students pursuing a career in the arts.”
The good news is a recently released in-depth study found that in 2003, programs serving children and youth received more than 40 percent of the $208.8 million given for arts education by the largest U.S. foundations. According to Foundation Funding for Arts Education: An Overview of Recent Trends, arts education funding nonetheless targets all age groups and a wide range of purposes, including supporting the education of emerging artists with scholarships.
The study, conducted by The Foundation Center and Grantmakers in the Arts (GIA), examines the growing trend of increased foundation giving to arts education programs at a time when public funding for arts education is declining. “Global competition will only increase the demand for a highly educated labor force with creative skills, while continuing government shortfalls may further reduce the access of young people — especially those least well off — to even basic arts education,” the study states.
Scholarship applications are currently under review. Recipients will be determined in February and award amounts will be disseminated later this spring.
More information about Iowa Scholarship for the Arts »
