Huntsville Festival of the Arts Scholarship Program The Huntsville Festival of the Arts Scholarship Award was introduced in 1997 to foster the development of the performing arts talent in our community. This year the Festival will again offer a Junior, Intermediate and Senior Scholarship. The Junior Scholarship, of up to $500, is available to applicants 13 years of age and under as at December 31, 2009. The Intermediate Scholarship, an award up to $1,000, is available to students 16 years of age and under as at December 31, 2009 and the Senior Scholarship is awarded to students 17 years of age or older as at the same date. Once again this year the Senior Awards will total $1,500. Students may apply for only one level of scholarship per year and scholarship funds must be used towards the cost of tuition to a post secondary institution or applied towards lessons from a qualified instructor.
Candidates must reside in the Huntsville/Lake of Bays area. Applications for both scholarships may be picked up from the High School Guidance Department or at the Huntsville Forester office at 11 Main St. W., just up and across the street from the Post Office commencing April 15th. Applications are to be completed and mailed back to the Festival office by a specified deadline in May.
Jazz legend Oliver Jones greets Festival Scholarship Recipients Dan Neill, Ashley Hill and Jamie Bestwick who performed during his Huntsville concert.
Festival Scholarships In addition to the application, each candidate will be required to perform a live audition in front of an adjudication panel. Award recipients will be notified during the week following the auditions.
Previous Festival scholarships have been awarded to students pursuing studies in dance, theatre, and music. Scholarship recipients and applicants have participated in a number of performance opportunities over the years, both during main stage concerts at the Festival and Music at Noon concerts. Winners of either the Festival or Community Choir Junior or Intermediate Scholarships are eligible to reapply for the Senior Scholarship but Senior candidates can only win once. However, unsuccessful Senior applicants are encouraged to audition in subsequent years. For further information please contact Rob Saunders at 788-2787.
Other Scholarship Opportunities In 2009, the Festival worked with Kelly Holinshead of The Shutterbug Gallery in Huntsville to present the first annual en Plein Air event. Established local artists worked with recognized community citizens to paint a picture in 3 hours, at outdoor venues throughout the downtown core. The resultant artwork was then auctioned off that afternoon, on the Town Hall steps, and over $3,000 was raised to be directed towards visual art scholarships for graduating art students throughout the Muskoka region. This year’s en Plein Air event will be held on July 29. Join in and enjoy the fun while supporting a great cause!
This year the Festival was approached by Huntsville High School and asked if they could replace a $1,000 scholarship, directed towards a graduating visual arts student. The benefactors of the existing scholarship had advised the school that they could no longer participate in the program. The Festival has agreed and will make these funds available to the 2010 graduating class.
