Penland Scholarships Summer 2021
Penland is an intentionally inclusive and dynamic creative community—a community that welcomes diversity and purposefully seeks students with diverse educational, cultural, and life backgrounds. Penland seeks students who can profit from the creative energy that arises from diverse artistic visions and approaches. Our scholarship program helps people live creative lives by enabling opportunities and artistic challenges for people from all walks and stages of life.
NOTE: Although the application deadline has passed and most scholarships have been awarded, we still have partial scholarships with work requirement available for some workshops. Log in to Slideroom for details.
Penland offers scholarships in four categories:
- Partial Scholarship with Work Requirement: students work for the school before and during their session. They receive meals, housing, and pay a discounted tuition. There are 35 of these scholarships.
- Full Scholarship with Work Requirement: students work for the school before and during their session. They receive meals, housing, and tuition. There are more than 70 of these scholarships.
- Full Scholarship with No Work Requirement: students receive meals, housing, and tuition with no work requirement. There are more than 100 of these scholarships.
- $1000 Scholarship: students receive $1000 toward the tuition, room, and board costs of their workshop. This scholarship does not include room and board. There are five of these scholarships, including one held for a student in metals and one held for a student in glass.
Each of these scholarship categories is described in detail below. Download our step-by-step walkthrough of the application process for assistance with Slideroom.
Some spaces are reserved in each workshop for scholarship students. Scholarships are intended for students who would have difficulty attending Penland without financial assistance. You may not apply as a full-paying student if you are applying for a scholarship. If you are not selected, you may reapply as a full-paying student if space is available.
How to Apply for a Scholarship or Studio Assistantship
- Minimum age is 18. Scholarship and studio assistantship applications must be made online at penland.slideroom.com starting January 1. Do not also use the regular enrollment application.
- Read cancellation and refund information on the registration page; it applies to scholarship students.
- Scholarship and studio assistantship applications require a nonrefundable $10 Slideroom fee. If you receive a scholarship, you will also be charged a $25 processing fee. You will need to list at least two references as part of your application. Your references will receive a reference form by e-mail. Reference forms must be completed by the application deadline for your application to be considered. Studio assistantship and many full scholarship applications require images of your work.
- Your application must be complete before 11:59 PM EST on February 17, 2020.
- You will be notified of your status by April 10 and be asked to pay in full at that time.
If you applied for a Penland summer scholarship for 2020, we can transfer your application to this year or waive the application fee. Please contact registrar@penland.org or 828-765-2359 for assistance.
More details are included in the Slideroom application form at penland.slideroom.com beginning January 1.
Partial Scholarship with Work Requirement (Work-Study)
Work-study students are an integral part of life at Penland. 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 12 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 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.
Work-study students receive housing and all meals as part of their scholarship.
If you are unable to perform the labor-intensive jobs required, please do not apply for these scholarships. Full scholarships with no work requirement are available.
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.
International applicants note: because the government considers our work-study scholarship program to be work-for-hire, students who are not US citizens may not receive work-study scholarships unless they are authorized to work in the US. International students may apply for full scholarships with no work requirement.
Full Scholarship with Work Requirement
These work-study scholarships carry the same work requirement as the partial scholarships, however they cover all room, board, and tuition. (Please read details of work requirement in the partial scholarships section.) These scholarships target students with exceptional talent and financial need. Applicants submit images of their work. If you apply for one of these scholarships, you are encouraged to also apply for a partial scholarship. See note below about targeted scholarships.
Full Scholarships with No Work Requirement
These full scholarships cover room, board, and tuition and have no work requirement. Most of them target students with exceptional talent and financial need, and applicants are encouraged to submit images of their work. However, a limited number of these scholarships do not require images. If you apply for one of these scholarships, you are encouraged to also apply for a full scholarship with work requirement and a partial scholarship if you are willing and able to meet the work requirement. See note below about targeted scholarship preferences.
Targeted Scholarship Preferences
Some full scholarships (with or without work requirement) have stated preferences from our funders in addition to exceptional talent and financial need. If you meet any of the following preferences, you will be able to indicate this in your Slideroom application, and it may increase your chance of receiving a scholarship.
- Teacher (at any level)—no images required
- International student
- Woman
- Woman who speaks English as a second language
- Woman taking a workshop/pursuing a career in books, drawing, painting, or photography
- Person of color
- Veteran
- Person with disability
- LGBTQ
- LGBTQ NC resident
- Forty or older
- Forty or older taking a wood workshop
- Sixty or older, studying an unfamiliar medium
- Emerging artist
- Emerging artist 50 or older
- Accomplished in one medium and taking a workshop in another
- Exploring a career or life transition
- Amateur or professional performer in dance, drama, or music
- Changing career to craft education
- Metals educator living in Japan
- Student at Louisiana State University School of Art
- Art major at Mars Hill University
- Student, faculty, or adjunct faculty at Meredith College
- Rising sophomore or junior at Appalachian State University and first time at Penland
- NC resident living east of Raleigh
- NC resident taking a workshop that uses new technologies
- Student from Appalachia, age 18–35
- Resident of Avery, Cleveland, McDowell, Mitchell, Rockingham, or Yancey counties in NC
- Resident of Idaho, Oregon, Washington
A complete list of specially funded, named scholarships is available here.
$1000 Scholarships
These scholarships provide $1000 in tuition assistance for a 12- or 15-day workshop. They do not include a work requirement, nor do they include room and board. Recipients are required to stay on campus.
Studio Assistantships
Penland is shifting the format of our assistant program this summer. Rather than hire individual assistants for each workshop, we are hiring interns to assist in each studio throughout the entire summer. Interns will work closely with studio coordinators and instructors and receive room and board and a stipend. Applications were due February 1, 2021 and are now closed.