Scholarships: It’s never too late to get creative

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Whether you’re a painter, a dancer, an actress, or someone who can make something creative out of just about anything, there’s a scholarship out there with your name on it.

Art is something that takes skill to do, and with college prices going through the roof, artistic scholarships are also taking off in popularity. Coming up in April, May, and June, some really cool scholarships for artists are available for application. No matter what your artistic talent is, there’s a scholarship somewhere that can cover it.

Take, for instance, the Stuck at Prom Scholarship Contest. Sponsored by Duck Brand Duct Tape, this contest is based on the artistic design capability, construction, and overall creativity of a girl and guy heading off to a four-year university.  The two applicants are to design, create, and wear a prom dress and tuxedo made out of nothing but duct tape. This is a full dress and a three-piece tuxedo we’re talking about here. It’s a huge work of art.

These dresses are not your typical A-line ballroom dresses.  They are designed intricately with ruffles, pleats, trains and bodices, overlay… one dress that won was made entirely of duct tape peacock feathers. It took over five thousand feathers to put this dress together, and when it was done it was unbelievable. And the tuxes? Unbelievably well-done.

The award itself is pretty good, too. $5,000 each for first place, $3,000 each for second place, $2,000 each for third place, and $500 each for all remaining top ten.

I’m entering Stuck at Prom this year with a good friend of mine – designing with duct tape is harder than it seems, and working with it can also be frustrating, but the end result is totally worth the pain. You can never go wrong with wearing duct tape.  (For a short description on how to start making duct tape clothing, search ‘The art of duct tape’ on thewatchdogonline.com)

Maybe you don’t like making clothes out of unusual items, though. Maybe you’re more of a performing arts person. There are scholarships for that, too! Due on May 3, there’s a performing arts video scholarship application available. This is the Heineken Performing Arts Scholarship, which was recently espoused by CBC.

Ten students will receive an award of $3000 each for a video display of comedy, monologues, and skits where the submitted is clearly visible. Singing, sonnets, poetry recitations, or any other type of performing art imaginable are allowed.

Along with this video, students must submit a transcript to prove that they have at least a 2.5 GPA, write a short essay, and have a letter of recommendation from a performing arts faculty member. All current college students in good standing are eligible.

But BC also has an art building where students can be seen painting or drawing every day, and there’s a scholarship for that, too. The L. Ron Hubbard Future Illustrators of America runs a scholarship competition quarterly, where students can submit any work of art based on fiction with the possibility of a $4,000 scholarship to any art school in the country.  The approaching deadline is June 30.

So whatever your artistic passion is, check out the web and do some research – because it might just be your ticket to college!