Student Scholarships
Call to all visual arts, fine arts, graphic & industrial design, illustration and animation students.
The Brighton Art Guild is pleased to announce a call for applications for the 2026 Norma Gray $2000 College Scholarship for the Visual Arts, the $1000 Livingston County High School Visual Arts Scholarship, the $1000 High School Visual Arts Scholarship and the $1000 Ron and Norma Gray Memorial Scholarship.
The Longfield Family Charitable Foundation generously sponsors our annual scholarships in honor of founding member Norma’s passion and dedication to supporting the creative development of Michigan artists. All scholarships are competitively awarded based upon an applicant’s merit and goals in the visual arts. There is no cost to apply.
Open to Michigan high school seniors, college undergraduate and graduate students pursuing a degree and career in the visual arts, fine arts, graphic & industrial design, illustration or animation fields in the 2026-2027 school year.
DEADLINE TO APPLY:
Online Applications accepted JANUARY 15 - MARCH 15 of current year
Eligibility Requirement Details
Norma Gray College Scholarship for the Visual Arts
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Open to Michigan high school seniors, college undergraduate and graduate students pursuing a degree and career in the visual arts, fine arts, graphic & industrial design, illustration or animation fields in the 2026-2027 school year at a Michigan college/university.
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All applicants must be between the ages of 17 and 25.
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Must be full time Michigan resident.
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Previous scholarship award recipients are not eligible.
Livingston County High School Visual Arts Scholarship
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Open to Livingston County Michigan high school seniors pursuing a degree and career in the visual arts, fine arts, graphic & industrial design, illustration or animation fields or art education in the 2026-2027 school year at a Michigan college/university.
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Must be a Livingston County resident.
High School Visual Arts Scholarship
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Open to all Michigan high school seniors pursuing a degree and career in the visual arts, fine arts, graphic & industrial design, illustration or animation fields in the 2026-2027 school year at a Michigan college/university.
Ron and Norma Gray Memorial Scholarship
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Open to Michigan high school seniors, college undergraduate and graduate students pursuing a degree and career in the visual arts, fine arts, graphic & industrial design, illustration or animation fields in the 2026-2027 school year at a Michigan college/university.
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Must be full time Michigan resident.
HOW TO APPLY
Complete Scholarship application form below
INCLUDE YOUR ARTIST’S GOAL STATEMENT
Your statement should be at least 75 words and should address why you make your art, how you make your art, and what your visual art goals are for the next year. This Statement is considered when determining the final scholarship recipients.
Please submit a PDF of your statement.
INCLUDE FIVE ARTWORK SAMPLES
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Files must be a digital jpg format (300dpi).
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Files should not exceed 4mg.
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Artwork file names should include the artist’s name, title, medium and dimension for each sample submitted. (ie: JohnDoe _sunset_acrylic_18wx22h).
Scholarships Winners will be notified by mail in April 2026.
QUESTIONS? Contact Leah Kucharek at redhendesign@comcast.net
**Full-time resident is a person whose main home/primary residence is located in Michigan and/or Livingston County for the entire year.
SCHOLARSHIP PRESENTATIONS
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We will have a formal scholarship presentation in the summer at the Brighton Art Guild’s monthly program/presentation at the Brighton District Library, 100 Library Drive, Brighton.
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Program begins at 6:30pm. All scholarship recipients are expected to attend the presentation if possible and encouraged to bring guests and family, and samples of their work to share.
ABOUT OUR SELECTION PROCESS
The Scholarship Committee members represent 2D and 3D artists and expertise in most every medium. Given that, they all tap into their own fundamental inherent bank of knowledge as artists. As we all know, the most experienced artists and jurors can have a different opinion than you do about a particular work of art. So on the basis that all art is not created equal, we get to the nitty-gritty and focus on these five characteristics of art:
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Beauty in Art
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Skill and Technique
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Inherent Meaning
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Uniqueness
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Fulfilled Intent
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To sum it up, good art should appeal to you. It will be skillfully made, most likely by an artist who has created other works in a similar fashion.
The best art has meaning beyond just an image; perhaps it will bring a tear to your eye, make you laugh, or remind you of something you’d almost forgotten. It also stands out in a crowd, and dares to be different. Most importantly, good art is understandable, although it may make you think in ways you never expected to!