Scholarships

Scholarships and grants-in-aid are available to qualified art students. For additional information refer to the scholarship section of the Bulletin or contact the Department of Art & Design.

Who Is Eligible?

Based on a variety of criteria, art scholarships are available to a number of students in Art & Design. Some scholarships are designated for entering freshman and transfer students who are pursuing a bachelor's degree in art. Others are designated for current Art & Design majors. Awards will be given to the most promising and deserving students.

How to Apply for a Scholarship

All applications need to be made online by February 3 through the University's scholarship portal for both University scholarships and the Department of Art & Design scholarships.

SCHOLARSHIP OFFICE

1. Incoming freshmen and transfer students must first complete the online application for admission to Murray State University.
2. Students who are admitted as degree-seeking students or current Murray State students can access the general scholarship application by logging into their myGate portal. The Murray State University General Application is located on the Financial Aid section of myGate in the Apply Online box. You can link to MyGate if you have already been admitted and received your myGate log-in information. Carefully follow all instructions in the scholarship application.
3. For an Art & Design scholarship, you will also need a portfolio.

Portfolio Guidelines for Incoming Freshmen and Transfer Students

• Your portfolio is a collection of your art works. The department's Scholarship Committee will use your portfolio to evaluate your talent and potential. Your portfolio may include a variety of media: any combination of drawing, painting, photo, mixed media, ceramics, graphic design, printmaking, sculpture, video, etc. Include 10 images of your best works.
• The work you choose should demonstrate your artistic ability, creativity, imagination and originality. Include at least two drawings from direct observation. Original works, conceived and designed by you, will reflect better on your portfolio than work copied from a published photograph or existing artwork.
• Photograph your work carefully. If you don't have access to a lighting studio, take your images in a room with diffuse light. Place your artwork against a gray or neutral background, such as a piece of cloth or mat board. Individual shots should be taken of each piece. The images must be 1000 to 2000 pixels on their longest side, or 1-2 MB each.
• Email your portfolio to msu.scholarshipportfolios@murraystate.edu by February 10.
• The images should be in .jpeg format and be titled with the name of the work.
• Include a document with your name, titles, media, dimensions and dates for the work. If you wish to provide an explanation of any of the work, you can include it here. If you're submitting a video work, send a link to your video in Google Drive, Vimeo or YouTube. Save it as a .doc or PDF file.
• Include your images as attachments to your email or in an attached folder.
• Your portfolio must not exceed 25 MB.
• If you are unable to email your portfolio, you may submit it through a Google folder shared to msu.scholarshipportfolios@murraystate.edu or copy it to a flash drive and mail it to the below address by February 10:
  • Scholarship Committee
    Department of Art & Design
    Murray State University
    604 Fine Arts Building
    Murray, KY 42071-3342

Portfolio Guidelines for Current Students

• Include 10 images of your best work completed at the college level. Depending on who you are as an artist and how far you are into your degree, you may want to choose works from a variety of classes or studio areas, or you may want to focus on work from a single studio area.
• Photograph your work carefully. See the art technician for an orientation on how to use the photo documentation lab.
• Email your portfolio to msu.scholarshipportfolios@murraystate.edu by February 10.
• The images must be 1000 to 2000 pixels on their longest side, or 1-2 MB each.
• The images should be in .jpeg format and be titled with the name of the work.
• Your portfolio may include video or sound files, but the total attachment cannot exceed 25 MB.
• Include a document with titles, media, dimensions and dates for the work. If you wish to provide an explanation of any of the work, you can include it here. Save it as a .doc or PDF file. If you're submitting a video work, send a link to your video in Google Drive, Vimeo or YouTube. Save it as a .doc or PDF file.
• Include your images as attachments to your email, or in an attached folder.
• Your portfolio must not exceed 25 MB.
• If you are unable to email your portfolio, you may submit it through a Google folder shared to msu.scholarshipportfolios@murraystate.edu or copy it to a flash drive drop it by the Art & Design office by February 10.

Financial Aid Opportunities

Financial aid is separate from the scholarship process. Information and application forms are available from the Financial Aid Office.

Deadlines

Deadline for online scholarship applications: February 3

Deadline for scholarship portfolio submissions: February 10