Asbury Renews Windgate Scholars Grant for Art Students

December 21, 2021

Asbury University was recently awarded a $56,000 Windgate Scholars grant to continue supporting visual arts students in 2022, an increase from last year’s scholarships from Windgate.

Asbury Art and Design Professor Margaret Park Smith spoke on the gift’s vitality and her appreciation for the grant.

“The Windgate Foundation’s support for Asbury’s Art and Design Department is the kind of sustaining support that addresses real financial needs,” she said. “But just as important, this support is a powerful affirmation of the work that our faculty and students are pursuing.”

The grant will be increased from last year’s three merit-based scholarships to a total of four which will be awarded to three four-year students and to one two-year transfer student. Each standards-holding recipient will annually collect $4,000 in scholarship funds.

The Art and Design Department has been gifted this scholarship since 2017, opening doors for twelve aspiring visual artists staring their journey at Asbury.

“The scholarship gave me the opportunity and confidence to pursue art with financial help,” said scholarship recipient Sophia Riley ’22. Riley is a Creative Writing and Art major. “Earning the scholarship took a lot of stress off my shoulders, and it made me feel validated in choosing art as my area of study.”

“The Windgate grant provided me with financial support that allowed me to continue my studies at Asbury,” said Art and Design Graduate Vivi Feiser ’21. “I was able to push myself creatively and really get the most out of my college experience with the support of the scholarship.”

In addition to the Windgate Scholarship, Asbury’s Art and Design Department offers more than $1.3 million dollars in financial aid to upcoming and current students in visual arts.

“The Windgate Scholarship has been transformative for the Art department,” said Asbury’s Director of Grant Writing Michael Stratford, explaining that the Windgate relationship began when the organization gave $152,000 in 2016 for equipment purchases in the department, followed by the scholarships. “It was the first specific grant for the visual arts for scholarship opportunities that we’ve been able to offer. It made an immediate impact.”

Interested students will be asked to submit samples of their artwork along with an artist’s statement and the Asbury Art and Department faculty select the scholarship awardees. For more information on the Windgate Art and Design Scholarships requirements and applications, visit the Windgate Scholarships page.