Tag: scholarships

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Early Decision Scholarships

work-study students at Penland during their shift in the dish room

Penland is pleased to offer a new scholarship option for summer 2019—early decision! These partial scholarships with a work requirement are similar to our general work-study scholarships from previous years, with a few important updates:

  1. If you apply for an early decision scholarship, your application will be processed on a first-come, first-served basis. You will be notified about whether or not you got into your workshop within three business days of the completion of your application (including two of your references completing a short reference form).
  2. We are holding two spaces in each workshop for early decision scholarship applicants, so your chances of getting into your first-choice workshop are improved if you apply early.
  3. Instead of the standard $50 processing fee, you pay only a $10 processing fee with your application.
  4. All early decision scholarship applicants will be assigned jobs in the dining hall (washing dishes, preparing food, etc.) that will total roughly 20 hours of work per week.

So who are these scholarships for, anyway?
We are offering this new option for eager students who would like to know the outcome of their scholarship applications sooner, want a better chance of getting into their first-choice workshop, and are willing to commit to a dining hall work assignment. Trying to squeeze a month-long internship, a family reunion, a Penland workshop, and a research trip into one summer? Get your dates locked down with early decision. Have your heart absolutely set on that session 3 iron workshop? Apply ASAP with early decision.

And what’s in it for Penland?
Every session, we need an energetic and diligent crew of work-study students in The Pines to make meal times run smoothly. We’re hoping that, by offering some incentives with our early decision option, we can fill those spots in The Pines and make a whole bunch of you happy, too!

How do I apply early decision?
All scholarship applications, including early-decision applications, must be submitted online through Slideroom. Scholarship applications will open January 1 and must be complete and submitted by 11:59 PM EST on February 18. Applications for early decision partial scholarships do not require images, but they do require two references to fill out and submit a short form via email. These applications will be processed on a first-come, first-served basis once complete, so submitting your application as soon as possible is to your advantage.

What if I need a full scholarship or can’t work in the dining hall?
In addition to the partial scholarships with work requirements that are eligible for early decision, Penland also awards full scholarships with work requirements, full scholarships with no work requirement, and studio assistantships. Spaces are held in each of our workshops for recipients of these scholarships. See complete information about our full range of summer 2019 scholarship options here.

View all of our summer 2019 workshop offerings!

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Communicating Through Craft: A Profile of Aaron Hughes

portrait of Aaron Hughes working at the press in the letterpress studio

 

Art, activism, performance, protest—for Aaron Hughes, the lines between them are blurred and insignificant. “All my work is about creating stories and sharing stories,” he explains. “I’m trying to find space for people to bridge the divides we have in our world through art and through stories.”

As a veteran who served in Iraq and Kuwait for fifteen months in 2003-2004, Aaron is sharply aware of those divides. His deployment introduced him to a rougher and more complex world than he’d known growing up in the Midwest. “I felt like the ideas from my upbringing, my religion, my country didn’t make sense anymore,” he remembers. “But what did make sense was art. I felt like art was something I could invest in and believe in and put my energy into. It was something creative and not destructive.”

Aaron came home from his deployment determined to use art as a tool to generate conversations and connections about difficult topics like war, trauma, and oppression. In 2006 he graduated from the University of Illinois with a BFA in painting, and in 2009 he received his MFA in Art Theory and Practice from Northwestern University. Then he went on to work with organizations such as the National Veterans Art Museum, Iraq Veterans Against the War, and the Center for Artistic Activism.

 

Drawing from the series 21 Days to Baghdad/Chicago
One of the pieces from “21 Days to Baghdad/Chicago,” a collection of drawings and maps Aaron made after returning to Illinois from his deployment.

 

In the summer of 2013, Aaron came to Penland for the first time with a Windgate Charitable Fund Scholarship. “I had spent so much time helping others to tell their stories and listening to other people’s stories that I had neglected any kind of personal work I needed to do,” Aaron explains. “I applied to Penland as a part of my transition back to focusing on my own art practice.”

He has returned to Penland each summer since to take classes in the printmaking and letterpress studios. “One reason I’m super invested in the printmaking program is that I’m interested in the way printmaking and politics can help to popularize language, stories, and movements,” he says. The connection is clear for Aaron: “Your ability to communicate lies in your ability to execute a craft. That’s what I’ve been gaining each time I come to Penland—the opportunity to develop my craft and to improve my communication skills.”

Aaron readily admits, however, that his time at Penland has been about more than gaining skills in the studio. “Penland is a generous space for me as a veteran,” he explains. “It’s a place of transformation and growth and learning. I’ve been encouraging other veterans to apply there because it’s such a healing, generative space.”

When he’s at Penland, Aaron describes himself as a “studio hound.” “I just want to make, make, make, make, make,” he laughs. But Aaron also values the quieter, more contemplative moments on campus. He describes the short walk back from dinner to the print studio: “There’s a little bench that’s halfway. I’ve often enjoyed sitting there, embracing the evening as it approaches and watching the Appalachian dusk. It’s so beautiful—transcendently beautiful. And I just sit in between all this creativity and embrace the present moment of being there. I feel like that’s healing. That’s wholesome for anybody.”

–Sarah Parkinson