Scholarships

2018 Scholarships

Scholarships towards tuition for weekend and extended weekend workshops are available.

Application deadline has been extended to April 15, 2018

Touchstone offers the following scholarship opportunities to prospective students:

Touchstone General Scholarship

Touchstone allocates the surplus funds raised during the spring fundraiser to general scholarships. This scholarship covers full or partial tuition for any workshop. In some instances, funds to assist applicants with room and/or board may also be awarded.

The Susan M. Brimo-Cox Memorial Scholarship

In November 2013, Touchstone lost one of its most enthusiastic and dynamic advocates, Susan M. Brimo-Cox. Susan’s relationship with Touchstone took many interesting and meaningful forms. She served on Touchstone’s board of directors, taught several glassmaking workshops on campus, and was a student in many, many more. Susan will be remembered as a skilled and versatile artisan who enjoyed combining her talents in glass, enameling, gardening, printmaking, photography, metalsmithing, and fiber arts. Susan’s loved ones have created a memorial scholarship fund in her name so that her legacy of support for the regional arts and cultural community may endure. This scholarship will help more aspiring makers enjoy the transformative impact of a creative experience at Touchstone. The scholarship is generally available to everyone, but preference will be given to spouses of active or former military personnel. The scholarship covers tuition and room and/or board for any workshop up to $500. Scholarship recipients will be required to donate one small object from their workshop to help document the impact of their commemorative contribution.

Robert Little Scholarship

To honor respected nature printer Robert Little, a scholarship has been created in his name. This scholarship is open to anyone taking an adult-level course that incorporates nature printing, and covers tuition for any nature printing workshop at Touchstone.

The Thaddeus Mosley Scholarship

The Thaddeus Mosley Scholarship is an annual scholarship offered to a student, emerging artist, or professional craftsperson or artist to attend a woodcarving workshop at Touchstone Center for Crafts. Thad is a renowned self-taught woodcarver with sculptures in museums and private collections in Pittsburgh and around the world. He has been a dear friend of Touchstone for many decades and taught workshops on the campus for almost 30 years. At Touchstone, hundreds of students have benefitted from Thad’s teaching, inspiration, and mentorship. Thad continues to carve wood into sculpture every day in his Pittsburgh studio and we are proud to have him as part of the Touchstone community. His excellence in teaching and his artistry in the ongoing evolution of new and traditional woodcarving traditions, has influenced Touchstone’s students in all genres and has helped the volunteer board of directors to fulfill its mission. In recognition of his artistic excellence in interpreting and expanding traditional craft, teaching future generations of artists the beauty of carving wood into sculpture, and his numerous contributions to Touchstone, members of the board of directors have initiated the Thaddeus Mosley Scholarship in his honor. The scholarship will cover full workshop tuition (a week-long or weekend workshop), lodging, meals, workshop material fees, and up to $100.00 in travel expenses.

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Process & Submission

Touchstone scholarships provide opportunities for many deserving students of all skill levels, ages, and backgrounds to attend workshops each year. We strongly encourage you to apply for these scholarships and to go through the streamlined application process. While financial need is often a factor in allocating these funds, Touchstone is also dedicated to ensuring that artistic merit and intensity of interest are seriously considered as well. All scholarship application packages must be complete with requested supporting materials. Incomplete application packages will NOT be reviewed. Touchstone will award scholarships based upon eligibility requirements, artistic merit, and financial need. Applicants of scholarships will be notified via letter of their award or denial. If applicable, students may apply for multiple scholarships with one complete application. Partial scholarships may be awarded at the committee’s discretion. Scholarships are only valid for the year in which they are awarded; students who are unable to attend their chosen/awarded workshop will forfeit their scholarship.

To Apply:

Applications Due: April 15, 2018. If you are interested in receiving a scholarship (full and/or partial) for the 2018 season, please submit your complete application package to Travis Winters, Touchstone’s Programming Manager, at:

Touchstone Center for Crafts ATTN: Programming Manager 1049 Wharton Furnace Road Farmington, PA 15437

or at: twinters@touchstonecrafts.org. Email submissions should be made as one (1) PDF document and (if applicable) jpg attachments with your name within the title(s). Incomplete applications will not be accepted for review. See below for all required submission materials. Required Submission Materials:

1. Download Touchstone Scholarship Application:
   Download PDF
2. Letter of Intent and Demonstration of Financial Need Limit to two (2) full pages of information. The letter should include applicant’s basic background information, their interest in the arts, and address why they need/deserve the scholarship and what they intend to accomplish with the award.
3. Letter of Consent Children under age 18 in the custody of a parent/guardian must have a letter of consent from a parent/guardian in order to attend a Touchstone workshop. Minors are not permitted to lodge on campus without a parent/guardian lodging within the same room/cabin.
4. Letters of Recommendation Two letters of recommendation are required. Preferably, educational or work-related references will be submitted. Applicants may send letters of recommendation from personal references if they do not have a formal work and/or educational background. Letters MUST include contact information (name, address, phone number, and email) of the references.
5. Résumé and/or Curriculum Vitae (CV) Résumés/CVs are required for those interested in applying for a work-study scholarship and should contain educational and/or work-related experience. Please limit to two pages.
6. Work Samples Work samples are not required but submission helps to show the committee the applicant’s experience and efforts in their chosen medium(s). Students should submit samples in print or digital form. Digital files should be jpg (330 dpi) format. Limit to three work samples.

Eligibility: All past, current and potential students are welcome to apply for scholarship consideration. Touchstone’s scholarship committee will review applications and apply them to the appropriate award. Scholarships are open to students of all artistic levels. Eligibility criteria for specific scholarship opportunities are as follows:

Policies:

• Recipients of scholarships will be notified via letter and/or email of their award by the dates noted above.
• Recipient selection will be based upon eligibility requirements, artistic merit, and financial need.
• Incomplete application packages will not be considered.
• Scholarships are only valid for the year they are awarded and may not be transferred to the following year. If an awardee is unable to attend during that year, the award is forfeited
• Applicants are permitted to apply each year regardless of the previous year’s award status
• Applicants may apply for multiple scholarships with one application submission.
• Partial scholarships may be awarded at the committee’s discretion.
• Applicants/awardees understand and agree that they will be financially responsible for the $50 adult or $25 youth processing fee and all applicable materials fees as these are not included in tuition. Lodging and/or meal packages not covered by a scholarship award are also the responsibility of the applicant/awardee.

For questions regarding scholarships or the application process, contact Travis Winters at twinters@touchstonecrafts.org or 724-329-1370.

Touchstone Center for Crafts prohibits discrimination in employment, scholarship and educational programs, and activities on the basis of race, national origin, color, creed, religion, sex, age, disability, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity, or associational preference. Touchstone Center for Crafts also affirms its commitment to providing equal opportunities and equal access to its facilities and programming.