InnerSpark is able to help some of its students with college aid through the distribution of The Herb Alpert Scholarships for Emerging Young Artists. By agreement between InnerSpark and the Herb Alpert Foundation, 18 students each year are designated Scholarship recipients. The Herb Alpert Scholarships for Emerging Young Artists annually include three awards in each of six categories: Animation and Film/Video, Creative Writing, Dance, Music, Theater, and the Visual Arts. In each category, two students receive single-year awards of $2,500, and one outstanding student receives up to $40,000, awarded in equal installments of $10,000 over the course of four years.
During the fourth week of the annual summer session session, InnerSpark department faculties choose award winners from enrolled InnerSpark students. No additional student application is required.
The selection criteria used by the faculty in each department includes a balanced assessment of artistic talent, character and motivation, likeliness of success in a collegiate or professional training program, and financial need.
The six top Scholarship recipients receive professional financial aid consulting and coordination to assure that the Scholarship will be used to offset the work and loan burdens the students would otherwise be expected to carry, and will not supplant other resources that should be provided by the financial aid offices of the colleges they choose to attend.
The Herb Alpert Foundation, a non-profit, private foundation established in the early 1980s, makes significant annual contributions to a range of programs in the fields of Arts, Arts Education and Compassion and Well Being. For more information, go to: http://www.herbalpertfoundation.org
