Penland Scholarships Summer 2023
- Scholarship application is through Slideroom: penland.slideroom.com
- Application form will be available beginning January 1.
- Application deadline is 11:59 EST on February 15.
- Applicants will be notified of their status by April 10 and be asked to pay in full by April 15.
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.
We recently made some changes to reduce barriers in our scholarship application process.
- The Slideroom fee has been reduced to $5. (If selected for a scholarship, applicants will be charged a nonrefundable $25 processing fee.)
- Letters of recommendation are not longer required, but we still ask you to give us names and contact information for two references.
- We have removed the image requirement from full scholarships unless the funder has asked that we review images as part of the application process. Most of our full scholarships do not require images.
Penland offers scholarships in six 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.
- Full Scholarship with Work Requirement: students work for the school before and during their session. They receive meals, housing, and tuition.
- Full Scholarship with No Work Requirement: students receive meals, housing, and tuition with no work requirement.
- $1500/$1000/$500 Scholarship: students receive $1500, $1,000, or $500 toward the cost of their workshop. If you receive one of these scholarships, the scholarship amount will be deducted from your bill.
- Studio Assistantships: Studio assistants work in the studio assisting the instructor and the studio coordinator before, during, and after their workshop. They receive room, meals, and tuition. More information here.
- NEW OPPORTUNITY! The Pines Scholarship: This is an opportunity for a limited number of people to work at Penland for one or two weeks and then take a workshop. See details below.
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.
Scholarship students receive hostel housing. Hostels are common living areas accommodating up to 13 students.
All students, including scholarship students, are responsible for the cost of materials used in their own production and they pay a studio fee for materials shared by the class.
A complete list of specially funded, named scholarships is available at penland.org/scholarship-funds.
Scholarship applications must be made online, using Slideroom, by 11:59 pm EST on February 15. Please do not use the regular enrollment system.
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. Do not use the regular enrollment application.
- Read the cancellation and refund policy.
- Read note about cost of materials on the registration page.
- 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. If you receive a scholarship, you will also be charged a $25 processing fee. You will need to list two references as part of your application. Applications for studio assistantships and some full scholarships require images of your work.
- Your application must be completed by 11:59 pm EST on February 15.
- You will be notified of your status by April 10 and be asked to pay in full by April 15.
More details are included in the Slideroom application form at penland.slideroom.com beginning January 1.
Additional Information
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 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 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, but they cover all room, board, and tuition. If you apply for one of these scholarships, you are encouraged to also apply for a partial scholarship. Some of these scholarships require applicants to submit images of their work. See note below about targeted scholarship preferences.
Full Scholarship with No Work Requirement
These full scholarships cover room, board, and tuition and have no work requirement. 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. Some of these scholarships require applicants to submit images of their work. See note below about targeted scholarship preferences.
Targeted Scholarship Preferences
Some full scholarships (with or without work requirement) have stated preferences from our funders that direct those scholarships to specific demographic groups, ages, career-stages, areas of study, etc. You will be able to supply this information in your Slideroom application, and it may increase your chance of receiving a scholarship. A small number of these special scholarships require applicants to submit images of their work; details in Slideroom. For summer of 2023, 27 full scholarships are reserved for people of color, and an additional 10 are reserved for people of color, people with disabilities, or veterans.
A complete list of specially funded, named scholarships is available here.
NEW OPPORTUNITY! The Pines Scholarship
For summer 2023, we are experimenting with a new way for a few people to contribute to school operations and gain access to a summer workshop. Participants will make a commitment of three or four weeks (depending on the session) that will involve one or two weeks of full-time, paid work followed by attending a workshop with a full scholarship. The work will be in The Pines dining hall and helping with changeover and will be paid $13.50 per hour plus meals and hostel housing (dorm rooms with up to 13 beds). The scholarship will cover tuition, hostel housing, and meals. Students selected will be responsible for the $25 processing fee, travel, cost of materials used in the workshop, and the studio fee.
Apply for through Slideroom no later than 11:59 EST, February 15.
There are two Pines Scholarships available for each of the following time frames:
Pines Scholarship for Session 2 (3-week commitment)
Arrive on campus Friday, May 26, work Saturday, May 27 – Saturday, June 3, enrolled in Session 2 workshop, June 4 – 16.
Pines Scholarship for Session 3 (4-week commitment)
Arrive on campus Friday, June 2, work Saturday, June 3 – Saturday, June 17, enrolled in Session 3 workshop, June 18 – 30.
Pines Scholarship for Session 4 (4-week commitment)
Arrive on campus Friday, June 16, work Saturday, June 17 – Saturday, July 1, enrolled in Session 4 workshop, July 2 – 14.
Pines Scholarship for Session 5 (4-week commitment)
Arrive on campus Friday, June 30, work Saturday, July 1 – Saturday, July 15, enrolled in Session 5 workshop, July 16 – 28.
Pines Scholarship for Session 6 (4-week commitment)
Arrive on campus Friday, July 14, work Saturday, July 15 – Saturday, July 29, enrolled in Session 6 workshop, July 30 – August 11.
Pines Scholarship for Session 7 (3-week commitment)
Arrive on campus Friday, July 28, work Saturday, July 29 – Saturday, August 12, enrolled in Session 6 workshop, August 13 – 18.