"To date, TCA and Texas Cultural Trust have named 154 Young Masters, awarding nearly one million dollars to exceptionally talented young Texans."
The Texas Commission on the Arts (TCA) and the Texas Cultural Trust team up to offer financial packages to students in grades 8-11 to encourage their pursuit of advanced study in “the areas of visual arts, literary arts, music, theatre, dance, musical theater, folk arts, and media arts.” The biennial program, launched in 2002, is called Texas Young Masters, and applications for the class of 2020 are now open.
According to the TCA: “The state’s most talented young artists will receive the esteemed ‘Texas Young Master’ title and be awarded grants of five thousand dollars per year for two years to advance their studies in the discipline of their respective arts discipline. To date, TCA and Texas Cultural Trust have named 154 Young Masters, awarding nearly one million dollars to exceptionally talented young Texans.” The grants are not scholarships, but rather are financial awards for students who are serious about furthering their studies in their chosen arts disciplines.
Applications can be submitted by students, their parents or guardians, or their arts instructors. “Students are to receive the grant for up to two years, but they must submit a plan for study annually. Students must be participating in a school-based arts program, summer institute, a specialized course of study, or receiving private lessons from a qualified instructor. Students must maintain passing grades in all academic areas.”
The initiative is part of a TCA and Texas Cultural Trust’s joint mission to “advance the creative economy of Texas by investing in the future of the arts.”
The deadline is November 15, 2019. To apply, please go here.
Previous winners can be found here.
The mission of the Texas Commission on the Arts (TCA) is to advance our state economically and culturally by investing in a creative Texas. TCA supports a diverse and innovative arts community in Texas, throughout the nation and internationally by providing resources to enhance economic development, arts education, cultural tourism and artist sustainability initiatives.
The Texas Cultural Endowment Fund was established by the Texas Legislature in 1933 to provide a permanent funding source for the cultural arts in Texas through the Texas Commission on the Arts.
