Scholarships in the arts
Submission Information
Requirements
-
Students must live in or attend school in one of the 24-designated Shoreline Arts Alliance towns. These are: Branford, Chester, Clinton, Cromwell, Deep River, Durham, East Haddam, East Hampton, East Haven, East Lyme, Essex, Guilford, Haddam, Killingworth, Lyme, Madison, Middlefield, Middletown, North Branford, Old Lyme, Old Saybrook, Portland, Salem, Westbrook and must be in 11th or 12th grade (or equivalent if homeschooled).
-
Winners and special recognition awardees should plan to attend our Celebration of the Arts Reception on Thursday, June 27 at Scranton Memorial Library in Madison. You will also be expected to write thank you notes to our sponsors and donors and to Shoreline Arts Alliance.
-
Application materials and file uploads will be accepted via the Google Form linked below. After the submission deadline, we will reach out to applicants to coordinate an interview and audition / art drop-off, depending on category.
Media Requirements
-
You may be asked to appear for a photo shoot and interview with the local press and other media.
-
You are asked to share this honor with your high school principal, faculty, guidance counselors, private teacher (s), outside programs that you are involved in – i.e. student orchestras, community theatre, choruses, etc.
-
You are asked to include this honor in high school graduation programs, college applications, published bios, and other promotions.
-
You are asked to keep in touch with Shoreline Arts Alliance and update us on your accomplishments in your chosen art discipline. We want to share your news with our sponsors, donors, and constituents.
-
Shoreline Arts Alliance will be announcing these awards to newspapers, state legislators, schools, and social media.
-
Video clips from auditions/performances/presentations will be uploaded to our website and other sites for marketing and publicity purposes.
Awards and Reception
There will be a Celebration of the Arts event to honor the winners and view their work.
This event is open to the public and will take place on Thursday, June 27th at 5PM at the E.C Scranton Memorial Library in Madison, CT.
Audition/Portfolio Review Dates & Info
Creative Writing Portfolio
Students applying for Creative Writing must submit portfolios by the application deadline. Portfolios must be submited to the Google Form by midnight January 4, 2024. File names must include your first and last name.
Portfolio should include a body of work of 6 – 10 pages that demonstrates a high level of achievement based on originality, technical skill, and personal voice. Independent work is highly regarded by the judges; each applicant is strongly encouraged to submit work that best reflects his/her/their individual creative writing gifts. This work may spring from creative writing classes and workshops, magnet programs, summer creative writing programs, and other extra-curricular writing courses. Entries may include poetry, short stories, personal essays, short one-act plays or screenplays, or excerpts from longer works, in any combination that falls within the 6 to 10 page limit. All submissions must be typed and double-spaced with 1-inch margins. No teacher markings (i.e. edits, corrections, comments, grade, etc.) may be visible in the submission. In
Dance Auditions
Dancers will participate in a group audition, learning & performing a short movement piece. Additionally, each dancer should perform a solo dance piece no longer than 3 minutes in a technique of choice. The piece may be self-choreographed or choreographed by another individual.
Music Auditions
Instrumental Music
Instrumentalists should prepare two short contrasting pieces to perform. They may be of the same time period as long as the styles contrast. Music selections should be from the standards in your instrument. No original compositions may be performed. Combined selections must be no more than 7 minutes. Live accompaniment preferred - a list of suggested accompanists is available upon request.
Vocal Music
Singers should prepare two short contrasting pieces to perform. Music selections should be from standards in the genres in which you are auditioning. No original compositions may be performed. Each selection should be no more than 21⁄2 - 3 minutes in length. Live accompaniment preferred - a list of suggested accompanists is available upon request.
Theater Auditions
Theater
Actors should prepare two contrasting monologues to perform - one contemporary monologue and one traditional monologue. Each piece should be no longer than 21⁄2 - 3 minutes in length and memorized.
Musical Theatre
Actors should prepare two contrasting monologues to perform - one contemporary monologue and one traditional monologue plus a theatrical presentation of one song - uptempo or ballad. Songs should be no longer than 3 minutes. Live accompaniment preferred - a list of suggested accompanists is available upon request.
Visual Arts Portfolio Review
All forms of visual art are encouraged to apply (i.e. ceramics, photography, painting, drawing, illustration, sculpture, etc). Portfolios must contain 3 – 5 images of original pieces representing a strong body of work. Paintings and drawings copied from published works or photographs taken by anyone but the submitting artist will not be accepted. If work is copied from a photo taken by the artist the photo must accompany the submitted image. Artwork must be finished and completed within the last year. Videography is also accepted. Any applicants submitting only paintings will be automatically considered for the Jeffrey Dobbs Scholarship for Excellence in Painting.
The Jeffrey Dobbs scholarship for excellence in painting
All eligible Visual Arts applicants submitting only paintings will be automatically considered for the Jeffrey Dobbs Scholarship for Excellence in Painting. As paint was Jeff’s medium of choice, eligible works must utilize paint as the primary focus of the piece. However, unique processes and unconventional works will be both accepted and encouraged. Submissions must follow the Visual Arts guidelines outlined above.