Scholarships – Spring 2024
Penland is an intentionally inclusive and dynamic creative community—a community that values the creative energy that arises from diverse artistic visions and approaches. Penland’s scholarship program exists to make our workshops accessible to those who are not able to participate without financial assistance and to create educational opportunities for people who have been underrepresented at Penland and in the craft world. Scholarships are one way we are pushing back on historic imbalances and barriers.
How to Apply for a Scholarship or Studio Assistantship
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- Minimum age is 18. Scholarship and studio assistantship applications must be made online at penland.slideroom.com. Do not use the regular enrollment application.
- Read the cancellation and refund policy.
- If applying for a studio assistantship, check this page or Slideroom to determine the availability of these scholarships.
- Scholarship and studio assistantship applications require a nonrefundable $5 Slideroom fee. You will need to list two references as part of your application. Applications for studio assistantships and the glass studio scholarship require images of your work.
- Your application must be completed by 11:59 pm ET on August 15
- Student will be notified of their status by September 15.
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Partial Scholarships with Work Requirement (Work-Study)
Fees for students receiving partial scholarships are listed here.
Partial scholarship (work-study) students do work for the school during their session, pay a discounted tuition, and receive room and board. Work-study students accept the challenge of balancing studio time with working for the school.
During the session work-study students work approximately 20 hours per week on a variety of service tasks, usually cleaning, food service support, dishwashing. (Because of the glass workshop schedule, glass students work 10 hours per week and pay a higher fee.) All work-study students are given a schedule on the first day and generally work part of each day during the session as well as on the day before and after the session. The work is manual labor and the schedule, while reasonable, requires work-study students to carefully balance their time and energy between the studio and their work obligations.
If you have physical limitations and you are selected for a scholarship, please let us know as soon as possible what kinds of work you can do, and we’ll do our best to make an appropriate work assignment.
In addition to working during the session, work-study students are required to work from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm on the day before their session. You are responsible for making travel arrangements that will allow you to meet this requirement. If you cannot meet this requirement, please do not apply.
NOTE: Before you apply, please read our COVID-19 Safety Guidelines document. Please note that our safety procedures are subject to modification as public health guidance changes.
Special Partial Scholarships
Hot Glass Work-Study Scholarship
There is one fall Concentration work-study scholarship for a glass student who will work 30 hours per week in the glass studio, and must be available to work the day before the workshop starts. Your application should include five images of your work. For more details, contact the glass studio coordinator at 828-765-5507. Recipient is responsible for a reduced tuition of $3,403, a $25 processing fee, the studio fee, and travel to and from Penland.
Development Work-Study Scholarship
There is one fall Concentration work-study scholarship for a student who will work 20 hours per week in the development office during the session, plus 8 hours the day before the session begins. You will be responsible for the tuition amount of $2,308, a $25 processing fee, a studio fee, and travel to and from Penland. A detailed description of this position is here.
Movement Work-Study Scholarship
There is one fall Concentration work-study position for a student who will teach movement classes. Your application and résumé should address your qualifications to teach movement. You may be asked to provide copies of certification if selected. This is a 20 hour per week position. This scholarship covers tuition, room and board. You will be responsible for the studio fee and travel to and from Penland. A detailed description of this position is here.
Studio Assistantships
Studio assistants are students who assist instructors and are responsible for maintaining the school’s standards for studio operation. They receive housing and meals and pay only a $5 application fee in Slideroom and a $25 non-refundable processing fee if selected.
Studio assistants are selected based on their knowledge of a working studio. In addition to 25–40 hours of work each week, studio assistants are required to work from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM on the day before their session and may have some work to do on Friday after the session is over. Clay studio assistants have a work assignment on Saturday morning after the session and stay on campus Friday night. View available spring studio assistantships here.
Standby Program
Residents of certain counties in Western North Carolina and Eastern Tennessee are offered half-price tuition when they take unfilled spaces less than four weeks before the beginning of a workshop (four weeks before an eight-week session). This offer is also available to all K–12 teachers and college, university, and community college faculty and all active, retired, and veteran military personnel regardless of where they live. For details visit this page: Standby Program