Local Contests

• High school seniors looking for art scholarships can find several local and state contests and awards especially for students from that area. The Performing Arts Center of Los Angeles County sponsors the annual Spotlight Awards for high school students from southern California. The contest awards up to $5,000 in scholarship money in two visual art categories, photography and two-dimensional art. Applicants must be from the counties of Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, Ventura, Santa Barbara or San Diego.
  
  

National Organizations

• Organizations at the national level also offer scholarship money to high school seniors interested in art. The groups may be visual-art-specific groups or may be general creative-arts organizations, like the Alliance for Young Artists and Writers, which sponsors The Scholastic Art and Writing Contests. The contests are open to students in grades seven through 12. Students can compete in one of 16 visual art categories, including painting, photography and digital art.
  
  

Colleges and Universities

• Scholarships for high school students interested in art are also awarded by schools or universities that specialize in art or offer art programs. The Art Institutes, with campuses all across the country, offer the Poster Design Competition, which awards high school seniors with full-tuition scholarships to study graphic design at an Art Institute campus. Furman University's Art Department offers several scholarships to high school students who will be incoming freshman and majoring in art. The scholarships range from $1,000 to $2,000 and can be renewed each year. Scholarship applicants must submit an art portfolio of 10 to 20 pieces in order to be considered for the awards.
  
  

Businesses and Corporations

• Several other sources offer art scholarships for high school seniors, including businesses and corporations. The greeting card company The Gallery Collection runs the annual Create-A-Greeting-Card Scholarship Contest, which awards $10,000 in scholarship money to the student with the winning entry. Entries can be an original photograph or drawing. Smaller local companies also sponsor art scholarships, like Liberty Graphics in Maine. The scholarship contest awards a $1,000 art scholarship to a high school senior from Maine who submits the winning piece based on the theme for that year.