For the second year in a row, the Scholastic Awards Alumni Council presented Alums with monetary grants to help them pursue creative endeavors. This year, six Alums were selected to receive $1,000 grants to help them work on projects ranging from 3D printing to DNA testing to staging a performance that combines music, song, and sign language. Here’s a look at what three of our Alums were able to accomplish with their microgrants.
Katherine Dubbs used her microgrant to rent a high-quality video camera and hire a videographer to capture the performance of Explorations: Stories of Love & Travel. Explorations is a concert that features performances of songs in English and in American Sign Language (ASL), with piano accompaniment. Katherine will be adding captions to the videos of the performance and will be uploading the videos to YouTube to share with a wider audience. For Katherine, the microgrant allowed her “to further [her] passion as an emerging artistic director.”
For Lee Connell, the microgrant gave her the gift of time. She was able to cut back on freelance work and teaching so that she could focus on her novel. The microgrant also allowed her to travel and conduct interviews to help with researching the characters and locations of the novel. Lee will continue working on the novel at a writers’ conference this summer.
Sasha de Koninck is interested in creating new textiles using 3D printing. Her goal is to create new textiles that are not only less wasteful than current textile production methods, but are also comfortable and appealing to the wearer. Sasha used the funds from her microgrant to pay for the 3D printing costs of her large textiles.
The Scholastic Awards Alumni Council is committed to supporting Alums in all stages of their careers. Through opportunities like the Alumni Microgrant Program and the Alumni Writer’s Residency, Alums are receiving the encouragement and support they need to continue innovating and elevating our nation’s art and literary communities.
Stay tuned for an update on the remaining microgrant recipients!