Youth Scholarships Available for Students in the 9-County Area Taking Art, Music and Dance Classes

    August 17th, 2019

    The Prairie Lakes Regional Arts Council is offering $300 Youth Scholarships for students in grades 7–12, and $200 for students in grades 3-6, who live in the 9-county area, announces Brenda Byron, PLRAC Executive Director.

    These scholarships provide select students the opportunity to study their chosen art with a practicing professional artist by taking lessons over a period of months. Artistic areas include: dance, literature, media arts, music, theater and visual arts. The application for grades 7-12 is due October 1, 2019 and grades 3-6 is due November 1, 2019. There is only one deadline per year. Students must live in the nine-county region that Prairie Lakes serves including: Blue Earth, Brown, Faribault, LeSueur, Martin, Nicollet, Sibley, Waseca and Watonwan Counties.

    Students in grades 7-12 must be participating with an instructor, an organization or arts discipline for at least 2 years to be eligible. Students in grades 3-6 must be participating for at least one year to be eligible. Both age groups require an online letter of recommendation from a teacher as part of their application. These scholarships are competitive; and are not based on financial need but rather for students that are active and excelling in their art form.

    The scholarship can be used to take lessons and pay a private Instructor or pay fees to a non-profit arts organization serving youth such as: Area Art Centers, Dance Conservatory of Southern MN, Mankato Area Youth Symphony Orchestra, Mankato Ballet Company, Mankato Children’s Chorus, Mankato or New Ulm Suzuki School of Music, other youth dance or music organizations, or art centers and groups which offer art classes to youth, etc. Students may not use this scholarship to participate in a school or organization band or choir trip, or other arts trips.

    Prairie Lakes Regional Arts Council has an online grant process. Go to our website, www.plrac.org, and click on the applicant Login button. Follow the instructions to register as an artist for the Youth Scholarship and complete the application. If you have questions contact: Brenda Byron, Executive Director, at the PLRAC office in Waseca, 1-800–298-1254 or plrac@hickorytech.net.

    In FY 2019 a total of 100 students were awarded Youth Scholarships, for a total of $27,000 from the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund. This is part of the Legacy funding from the Clean Water, Land and Legacy Amendment that Prairie Lakes receives from the State Legislature. We also provide grants to Artists, Non-profit Arts Organizations, Community Groups and Schools and awarded over $400,000 last year.

    The Prairie Lakes Regional Arts Council is committed to supporting and expanding the arts in the nine-county area; knowing that the Arts improve the quality of life in our region. We serve a nine-county area including Blue Earth, Brown, Faribault, LeSueur, Martin, Nicollet, Sibley, Waseca, and Watonwan Counties.