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Program Guidelines

The Iowa Scholarship for the Arts supports the development of outstanding high school seniors who excel in the arts and are enrolled in accredited educational programs leading to careers in the arts. Scholarships in the amount of $2,500 are awarded to support 2023-2024 academic year tuition expenses at Iowa colleges or universities.

Timeline

Application Deadline
April 3, 2023 at 11:59 PM

Award Notification
April 28, 2023

Payment
Scholarship award recipients will be asked to confirm enrollment at an Iowa college or university during the summer of 2023. Scholarship payments will be made directly to the Iowa college or university.

Eligibility

The applicant must be an Iowa resident who will graduate from an Iowa high school during the 2022-2023 school year and be accepted as a full-time undergraduate student at a fully-accredited Iowa college or university with a major in at least one of the following arts areas: animation, architecture, creative writing, dance, English, fashion, fine arts education, folk & traditional arts, graphic design, literature, media arts, music, theatre or visual arts. Immediate family members or dependent children of Iowa Arts Council board and staff are not eligible.

Artistic Work Samples

Submit 3-5 artistic work samples that best represent the quality and type of artwork the applicant creates. Artistic work samples should demonstrate the type of artwork the applicant intends to study in college and support the stated vision and goals outlined in the application. Appropriate types of artistic work samples are listed by discipline below.

Literary Arts

Examples: Poetry, fiction, non-fiction, playwriting
Submit documents demonstrating the applicant’s literary artwork. Each document submitted may not exceed 5 pages. The pages of the documents should be clear and clean. Enter the title, year created, description of concept behind the piece and any other relevant context for each item submitted.

Visual Arts

Examples: Drawing, painting, mixed media, sculpture, photography, installation
Submit digital images or video files demonstrating the applicant’s visual artwork. Each image or video should be of high quality and clearly depict the artwork. Crop out unnecessary frames and make sure the camera is at the same angle as the artwork to eliminate awkward angles and perspectives in images. Enter the title, year created, description of concept behind the piece and any other relevant context for each item submitted.

Performing/Media Arts

Examples: Music, film, theatre, dance, performance art, music composition
Submit video or audio files demonstrating the applicant’s performing and/or media artwork. Video or audio files should be high quality and clearly identify the applicant’s participation in the work. Enter the title, year created, description of concept behind the piece and any other relevant context for each item submitted.

Online Application Submission

Applicants must submit applications via the Iowa Arts Council’s SlideRoom, an online application portal. Applications will not be accepted in any other format. Late, incomplete or ineligible applications will not be accepted. Applicants can access the current online application requirements at iowaartscouncil.slideroom.com. Applicants must create a login to view the full application requirements for the program. Applicants can visit help.liaisonedu.com for SlideRoom assistance related to the online submission.

Review Process

Department Eligibility Review

Submitted applications are reviewed by staff for completion, eligibility and adherence to published guidelines. Applications are reviewed as submitted. New application information or subsequent application clarification submitted after a program deadline is not considered. Staff will also review an applicant’s record of compliance and good standing with the Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs, State and Federal government. Applications determined by staff to be ineligible or incomplete will not be recommended for panel review and are specifically denied any appeals process.

Competitive Panel Review

Eligible applications will be referred to a competitive review by a volunteer citizen panel of Iowa arts and culture professionals with appropriate expertise commensurate to the purpose of the scholarship program. Applications will be scored and ranked based on the published scoring rubric. Panel ranking and recommendations are submitted to the Administrator of the Iowa Arts Council and Director of the Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs for consideration and funding approval. Applications will be awarded scholarship funding based on the ranked list and available funding. All scholarship decisions are final and may not be appealed due to dissatisfaction. Applicants may review the department appeals policy for information on grounds for appeal and the appeal process.

Scoring Rubric

The Iowa Scholarship for the Arts Scoring Rubric will be used by the panel to evaluate applications. Each section has criteria and corresponding point values to ensure a fair review process. The rubric is on a scale of 21 points.

 

ESSAY: VISION
3 points possible		    
3 Essay demonstrates a clear vision and passion for artistic discipline. 2 Essay demonstrates a passion or vision for artistic discipline. 1 Essay does not demonstrate a vision or passion for artistic discipline.

 

ESSAY: GOALS
3 points possible		    
3 Essay identifies exemplary goals for post-secondary education in an art field. 2 Essay identifies goals for post-secondary education in an art field. 1 Goals for post-secondary education in an art field are unclear.

 

ESSAY: COMPOSITION
3 points possible		    
3 Essay is clear, concise and well-composed. 2 Essay is clear, containing minimal grammatical errors. 1 Essay is poorly composed and/or contains multiple grammatical errors.

 

LETTER OF RECOMMENDATION
3 points possible		    
3 Letter of recommendation is highly relevant to the scholarship and speaks to the applicant’s excellent artistic abilities. 2 Letter of recommendation is relevant to the scholarship and speaks to average artistic abilities. 1 Letter of recommendation is not relevant to the scholarship or does not speak to the applicant’s artistic abilities.

 

WORK SAMPLES: TECHNICAL QUALITY
3 points possible		    
3 Work samples are of high quality. 2 Work samples are of average quality. 1 Work samples are of poor quality.

 

WORK SAMPLES: ARTISTIC QUALITY
3 points possible		    
3 Work samples demonstrate exceptional capabilities in artistic concept and form. 2 Work samples demonstrate average capabilities in artistic concept and form. 1 Work samples demonstrate poor capabilities in artistic concept and form.

 

OVERALL APPLICATION QUALITY
3 points possible		    
3 Applicant’s stated goals and artistic vision are clearly supported by their work samples. 2 Applicant’s stated goals and artistic vision are clearly supported by their work samples. 1 Applicant’s stated goals and artistic vision are clearly supported by their work samples.

 

Accessibility

The Iowa Arts Council is committed to providing reasonable accommodations to eligible applicants. For technical support submitting the online application, please contact the Accessibility Coordinator, Lindsay Keast at 515-281-8352 or lindsay.keast@iowa.gov, at least two weeks in advance of application deadlines.