Scholarships
2020 Scholarship applications will be available Jan. 1 and due March 15, 2020. Please check back!
2019 Scholarships…
Scholarship applications were due March 15.
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. Applicants may apply to more than one scholarship. Incomplete applications will not be evaluated.
Educators’ Retreat Scholarships – NEW!
50% – 100% Tuition Scholarships: The purpose of this scholarship is to help K-12 Educators participate in this week of programming. Various scholarships are available and open to any K-12 Educator from any district or state. Thanks to the generosity of the Community Foundation of Fayette County, ten 100% tuition scholarships have been awarded for K-12 educators teaching in Fayette County. Thanks to the support of the Community Foundation for the Alleghenies, five 100% tuition scholarships are available for teachers in Cambria, Somerset, and Bedford counties. Touchstone has applied for financial support from several other geographic-specific foundations and we are waiting to hear if additional funding of scholarships will be awarded. In the meantime, we encourage ALL EDUCATORS to apply through our general EDUCATORS’ RETREAT SCHOLARSHIP application process, choosing Educators’ Retreat workshops as your preference. Download Scholarship Application
Architecture and the Integrity of Craft Scholarship – NEW!
100% Tuition, Room, & Board: The purpose of this scholarship is to introduce architectural students or recent architectural graduates to the important role craft plays in the built environment. Eligible candidates include any student who has completed at least two years in an NCARB accredited architectural program or is a recent graduate of an NCARB accredited program who is 30 years old or younger.
Eligibility
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Eligible candidates include any student who has completed at least 2 years in an NCARB accredited architectural program, or a recent graduate of an NCARB accredited program who is 30 years old or younger.
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To fully participate in the Touchstone experience, the scholarship recipient is required to stay on campus and participate in the full-service meal plan.
Purpose
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The purpose of the scholarship is to introduce architectural students or recent architectural graduates to the important role craft plays in the built environment. By participating in a class of their choice at Touchstone, they will be further exposed to one aspect of the craft tradition and can develop a further understanding of the craft. In the process, they will gain a better understanding of the relationship of craft to the architectural design and building practice. While at Touchstone, they will also witness a number of other crafts being explored and will be introduced informally to how those crafts may relate to the same.
Touchstone General Scholarships
50% – 100% Tuition Scholarship: This scholarship provides 50% – 100% tuition for any adult-level workshop.
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.
Robert Little Scholarship
100% Tuition Scholarship: To honor respected nature printer, Robert Little, a scholarship has been set up in his name. This scholarship is open to anyone taking an adult-level course that incorporates nature.
The Susan M. Brimo-Cox Memorial Scholarship
$500 Scholarship: This scholarship provides up to $500 towards any adult-level workshop’s tuition, room, and board. Scholarship recipients will be required to donate one small object from their workshop to help document the impact of the Susan Brimo-Cox family’s commemorative contribution made in her honor.
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.
The Thaddeus Mosley Scholarship
100% Tuition Scholarship: This scholarship provides 100% tuition for any adult-level sculpture-based workshop. Additional funds may be awarded to offset the cost of housing, meals, travel and materials fees on a case-by-case basis. This scholarship was established in honor of lifelong Touchstone instructor and friend, Thaddeus Mosley.
The Thaddeus Mosley Scholarship is an annual scholarship offered to a student, emerging artist, or professional craftsperson or artist to attend a sculpture-based 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 creating 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.
Fayette County Resident Discount
25% Reduced Tuition: Full-time residents of Fayette County in Pennsylvania are offered 25% reduced tuition for any adult workshop. Regular room and board fees apply. Please call our office at 724-329-1370 to receive a discount code (discount can not be applied to special firings, teen week, youth programming, date nights, and symposiums).
Teen Week Scholarships
50% – 100% Tuition, Room, & Board: Touchstone works with individual schools to provide students with these scholarships. Individual teens are welcome to apply directly through Touchstone and will also be considered. Download Teen Week Scholarship Application
* Applications for Teen Week Scholarships were due April 1.
Submit applications to Travis Winters, programs manager, at twinters@touchstonecrafts.org or by mail:
Touchstone Center for Crafts
ATTN: Programs Manager
1049 Wharton Furnace Road
Farmington, PA 15437
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.