The Alexander Art Foundation Scholarship

Eligibility Requirements:

– Between 17 and 21 years of age at the time of the application.
– Graduating senior from a public high school in the state of Georgia.*
– Minimum 3.0 GPA on a 4.0 scale
– Member of one of the following ethnic groups: African-American/Black, Asian-American/Pacific Islander, Hispanic/Latino or Native-American/Alaska Native
– Currently reside in the State of Georgia and have continuously resided in the state of Georgia for a minimum of three (3) years immediately preceding the final date of the application, unless a member of the Armed Services or a military dependent‡. U.S. citizen or permanent resident of the U.S.
– Proven artistic ability in the areas of music, dance, visual arts, theater, and/or literature.
– Exhibit leadership, community service/show involvement in organizations, extracurricular activities, church service or work-employment

Level of Study:

– Accepted as a full-time student at a fully-accredited, 4-year college or university within the U.S., carrying a total of 12 units or more per semester/quarter and who plans to pursue a degree in Fine Arts, including all visual and performing arts
– Seeking a minor in a field of study that has an emphasis on advertising, marketing or public relations are preferred but not required and does not count against.

Application Requirements:

– Current high school transcript with GPA
     Note: If your school’s policy requires them to directly mail transcripts on your behalf, please denote this on the application that those indicated items will be mailed separately from your application.
– Complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA)
– Must apply for the scholarship within one year of graduation from high school, unless the applicant entered the United States armed services‡
– Must have at least one year to complete his/her degree from the time the scholarship is awarded in June

Supplemental Application Requirements:

– Artists may submit a maximum of five (5) original, digital images (we prefer 150+ dpi with its maximum width or height set to 16 inches) representing the best examples of their work. The panel will not consider work samples that exceed the maximum. Images submitted without a detailed image list will not be considered. Plagiarism will not be accepted nor tolerated. Accepted visual art categories are listed below:

– Photography
– Film
– Media arts
– Painting
– Drawing
– Composition
– Landscape
– Any other slides of your work which you think advisable

– Artist statement (500-1,000 words) addressing your personal history, your development as an artist, and your plans for the future as well as answer a specified question in one cohesive essay.
– Three (3) submitted letters of recommendation. We suggest one come from a community or public service leader (e.g. church leader, community leader, volunteer organization). The application provides instructions for your references to upload their letters.
Each letter of recommendation must be submitted in a sealed envelope, with the recommender’s signature across the seal.
– Electronic PDF copy of detailed Federal Student Aid Report (SAR); this report comes from the U.S. Department of Education and is typically 5 pages in length.
– Resume (2 pages maximum) detailing academics, extracurricular activities, honors, employment, community service, and special skills.
– Must provide a recent photograph suitable for publication (e.g., a cap and gown picture, or other of professional quality and dress).
– File naming convention for submission: LastName_FirstName_001 (subsequent numbers following). Attach a text document that gives a short description of each piece that correlates with the file name.
e.g. File submission in .zip format: Doe_John_001; Doe_John_002 | Text document: Doe_John_001 – “Piece name/description”; Doe_John_002 – “Piece name/description”

Application Deadline:

– All items must be postmarked by April 1. Absolutely no exceptions.

Additional Information:

– Incomplete applications will not be considered. Check application for all requirements before submitting.
– Emailed applications will not be considered.
– Emailed recommendation letters will not be considered.
– Type/print legibly. Proofread and spell check.
– Annual family income limit of $45,000. Income is based on and determined by the successful completion of FAFSA application. Scholarship application, supplemental items, and FAFSA must be completed and postmarked by April 1.
– The winning recipient must make a 1-year commitment to maintaining contact with the Alexander Art Foundation to receive professional guidance and academic support.
– Previous AAF award-winning scholars may reapply for selected sub-funds based on available funding.*
– Funds may be applied to standard expenses such as tuition, fees, books, supplies, materials, and room/board.
– Scholarship funds are awarded contingent upon the recipient being accepted and enrolled as a full-time, undergraduate student at a fully accredited, four-year college or university. The recipient must complete one (1) semester as a full-time undergraduate student with a declared major in Fine Arts and continue full-time status entering their second semester. Full-time is defined as carrying a total of 12 units or more per semester/quarter. Once these requirements have been satisfied, scholarship funds will be awarded your second semester. No award amount of any value will be issued unless all requirements have been satisfactory met within this time period.
– Questions can be submitted via the contact form with “Scholarship” in the first line. Please add contact@ah.photography to your safe sender’s list to ensure your response does not go to junk/spam.

Individual Award:
$500

Number of Awards:
 1

Selection Process:
– Scholarship applications are evaluated, read, and scored by a committee of volunteers who use a “blind” review process.
– The Alexander Art Foundation Scholarship committee reserves the right to not award a scholarship if no qualified applicants apply.

Clause:

* – In the future, the Alexander Art Foundation is looking to expand with efforts of offering scholarships to multiple individuals, sub-funds for previous scholar recipients, community college graduates with acceptance into a four-year college/university, as well as incorporating and accepting applicants throughout the entire United States of America.

‡ – Eligibility of Members of Armed Services.

— A person who entered full-time, active duty with the United States armed services within two years of his or her high school graduation and is discharged with a status other than dishonorable is eligible to apply or claim an AAF award within seven years of the time he or she has initially entered military service. However, this eligibility ends one year after discharge from such military service.
— The applicant must meet all other criteria established for eligible high school graduates at the time of the application, including but not limited to high school grade point average.
— The applicant must meet the residency requirements set out previously or have entered military service from this state, and not have established domicile in another state, at any time during that military service.
— A student attending a U.S. military academy is only eligible for an AAF award if he or she leaves the military academy and meets the requirements of the scholarship.

Terms and Definitions:

– Visual arts may include, but not limited to; architecture, ceramics, drawing, fashion, graphic design, illustration, interior design, painting, photography, printmaking, sculpture, sketching, media arts, video production, and other decorative arts.
– Media arts encompasses narrative, non-narrative, documentary, animation, or experimental time-based works using audio, digital, film, and/or video media; also included is computer art in which the computer is an essential element of the work’s creation, presentation or understanding.
– Performing arts may include, but not limited to; dance, music, poetry, and theater.

Why an art scholarship?

A. There are many scholarships floating around for the “popular” things; athletics, medical, law, education, etc. but where does that leave us creatives? The arts are everywhere you turn in life and you might not even realize it. This is why it is essential to continue to cultivate the youth in pursuing art-related careers and passions. From supplies to even studio space rental, being an art major might not be as expensive as some of the “higher-end” degrees but it is still costly nonetheless. Here is where the scholarship comes into play and can be used for any expenses from tuition to room and board or even a food budget because meal budgets are an expense in itself.

 What about email? Can I just send everything via email?

A. No. The panel evaluates all applications with the same standards and if you do it, it would not be fair to someone who completed the process the right way.

What if I missed the deadline?

A. You are encouraged to apply the following year if you meet the requirements.

What are the chances of being award the scholarship?

A. Dependent upon the amount of COMPLETE applications submitted. Incomplete applications will not be considered, so be sure to double-check all requirements and read everything carefully and read it again.

Is there a confirmation when my application has been received?

A. Besides the on-screen message after submitting, there will not be a confirmation. Even with mailed items, we will not notify you upon receipt. If you would like a feeling of comfort, we suggest you obtain tracking information on all physically submitted items so you will know when the items have been delivered. Make sure you have enough postage as we will not pay for any overdue/additional postage. Your submission will be refused for delivery and returned to you.