Applications for Artistic Achievement Awards are now open until February 11!
Scholarships
The Department of Communication, Media & Design Arts offers Artistic Achievement Awards to talented, incoming students (new and transferring). Artistic Achievement Awards and limited endowed scholarships are offered in renewable amounts ranging up to $7,500 per year and are in addition to academic merit awards. Awards are renewable for up to three additional years, and are available to students in Dance, Digital Media, Music, Studio Art & Design, and Theatre.
Studio Art & Design award recipients are required to declare as a BA in Studio Arts or BFA in Design major in their first semester at PLU; Digital Media award recipients are required to declare as a BA in Communication major in their first semester at PLU. Students seeking a major in Design or Studio Art can enroll in classes in a variety of artistic media, including ceramics, design, 3D modeling, photography, and printmaking, as well as in art history and theory. Students interested in a major in Communication can take coursework in a range of related areas of study, including strategic communication, media studies and production, public speaking and advocacy, and critical media literacy.
How to Apply
In order to apply for an Artistic Achievement Award, you must first apply to PLU via Common App (for First Year students, including Running Start) or Transfer student application, and make sure to mark on your application your academic and/or co-curricular interests in the scholarship areas (studio art/design, communication/digital media, dance, music, theatre).
We recommend you submit your PLU application by February 1, 2025 so you have plenty of time to complete the Artistic Achievement Awards application by the February 11, 2025 deadline! On campus auditions and interviews dates are February 21-23, 2025.
Once your application to PLU is submitted, you’ll set up your PLU student applicant portal and should see the Artistic Achievement Awards application there. You’ll also receive an email inviting you to apply for an artistic achievement scholarship.
Portfolio Requirements
If you are applying for the award in Studio Art or Design, we will ask you to submit a portfolio with 10 – 15 pieces, in any medium. This portfolio should be submitted as a single PDF of photographs of your artworks taken against a neutral background. The work you submit should be from the past several years, so that we can get a sense of how it has developed over time. We also encourage you to share one or two sketchbook pages, because these provide additional context about your process.
If you are applying for the award in Digital Media, we will ask you to provide a link to a site that hosts your portfolio of work, such as a YouTube channel, a playlist, or a video reel summarizing your digital media production. Your portfolio should include 3-5 examples of your storytelling work in digital media. These could include narrative or documentary video or film, digital journalistic work, social media campaigns with at least three posts/components.
Social Media