Arts scholarships for youth available at Prairie Lakes Regional Lakes Council

The Prairie Lakes Regional Arts Council is pleased to offer $300 Arts Scholarships for Youth in the 9-county area. As part of the Education portion of the new Arts and Culture Heritage Fund, the regional arts council will provide scholarships to students in grades 7–12, to study their chosen art with a practicing professional artist through lessons, attend a series of classes, arts workshops or a special training opportunity. Artistic areas include: dance, literature, media arts, music, theater and visual arts. The Student Application deadline is October 1, 2012 and there is only one deadline per year. Students must live in the 9-county region that Prairie Lakes serves including: Blue Earth, Brown, Faribault, LeSueur, Martin, Nicollet, Sibley, Waseca and Watonwan Counties.

The arts student applicant must have participated with an instructor, an organization or arts discipline for at least 2 years to be eligible; and must submit a letter of recommendation from a teacher as part of their application. The scholarship can be used to take lessons or pay fees to a non-profit arts organization serving youth such as: Area Art Centers, Dance Conservatory of Southern MN, Figure Skating Clubs, Mankato Area Youth Symphony Orchestra, Mankato Ballet Company, Mankato Children's Chorus, Mankato or New Ulm Suzuki School of Music, other groups which offer art, dance, and music 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.

In FY 2012 a total of 50 students were awarded Youth Scholarships, for a total of $15,000 from the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund. Grant guidelines and applications are available at www.plrac.org or by contacting Brenda Byron, Executive Director, at the Prairie Lakes office in Waseca, 1-800-298-1254 or plrac@hickorytech.net. In FY 2012 $323,547 was awarded in grants in the 9-county area by Prairie Lakes Regional Arts Council. A variety of activities were funded including: arts classes for youth and adults; art exhibitions; arts and music festivals; choral concerts; dance performances; literary readings; music concerts; theater performances; etc. Grant funding is provided by the Minnesota State Legislature and the McKnight Foundation, Minneapolis. Over half of the funding in FY 2012 was provided by the Arts and Culture Heritage Fund, which was created by the people of Minnesota to support the arts and preserve our heritage. The Clean Water, Land and Legacy Amendment, passed by the voters in November, 2008, created new resources for land conservation, water conservation, parks and the Arts.