Apply Below
Get a head start on Your 2015 Youngarts application
(The 2014 application is closed)
Up to $10,000 monetary award
(total awarded each year is over $500,000)
- Exclusive eligibility for recognition as a U.S. Presidential
Scholar in the Arts - Master classes with world-renowned artists
- Access to scholarships, career opportunities and
professional contacts
The deadline to begin an application for the 2014 YoungArts programs is now CLOSED.
Welcome!
Thank you for your interest in applying to YoungArts. We look forward to receiving your materials and wish you every success with your application.
About YoungArts
YoungArts provides emerging artists (ages 15-18 or grades 10-12) with life-changing experiences with renowned mentors, access to significant scholarships, national recognition, and other opportunities throughout their careers to help ensure that the nation’s most outstanding young artists are encouraged to pursue careers in the arts. Support is offered in ten artistic disciplines: cinematic arts, dance, design, jazz, music, photography, theater, visual arts, voice and writing.
Why Apply
To date, YoungArts has honored more than 17,000 young artists with over $6 million in monetary awards; facilitated in excess of $150 million in college scholarship opportunities; and enabled its participants to work with master teachers who are among the most distinguished artists in the world, such as Mikhail Baryshnikov, Jacques d'Amboise, Plácido Domingo, Bill T. Jones, Quincy Jones and Martin Scorsese. In addition, YoungArts serves as the exclusive nominating agency for the U.S. Presidential Scholars in the Arts, the country's highest honor for young artists.
YoungArts alumni who have gone on to become leading professionals in their fields include actresses Vanessa Williams, Viola Davis, and Kerry Washington; four-time Tony Award nominee Raúl Esparza; CEO of American Ballet Theatre Rachel Moore; recording artists Nicki Minaj and Chris Young; musicians Terence Blanchard, Eric Owens, and Jennifer Koh; choreographer Desmond Richardson; visual artist Hernan Bas; and internationally acclaimed multimedia artist Doug Aitken.
About the Awards
By applying to the YoungArts program winners are eligible for:
- Up to $10,000 monetary award (total awarded each year is over $500,000)
- Exclusive eligibility for recognition as a U.S. Presidential Scholar in the Arts
- Master classes with world-renowned artists
- Access to scholarships, career opportunities and professional contacts
Recognition
National Winners
Every year up to 700 students are selected from up to 10,000 applicants from across the country as national winners. Winners have the opportunity to attend YoungArts programs and partake in master classes with internationally renowned artists, workshops, interdisciplinary activities, performances and exhibitions. In addition, all YoungArts Winners join the ranks of our 17,000 YoungArts alumni, many of whom have gone to the top universities and conservatories across the country and/or have become leading professionals in their fields.
Recognition Levels
Merit: Receive a Certificate of Achievement, a Recommendation Letter and possible invitation to participate in regional programs. High School receives engraved trophy for display.
Honorable Mention: Receive a $250 award, a Certificate of Achievement, a Recommendation Letter, and possible invitation to participate in regional programs. High School receives engraved trophy for display.
Finalist: Receive an invitation to our annual YoungArts Week, held in January, for final adjudication to determine award designation (Gold $10,000, Silver $5000, Level 1 $3000, Level 2 $1500, Level 3 $1000), a Certificate of Achievement, a Recommendation Letter and possible invitation to participate in regional programs. High School receives engraved trophy for display.
YoungArts Programs
YoungArts Week
Approximately 170 Finalists spanning ten disciplines, converge in Miami for YoungArts Week each January. Finalists continue to be adjudicated during YoungArts Week while participating in master classes, performances, exhibitions, and interdisciplinary sessions. Finalists who are graduating high school seniors and meet all eligibility requirements, also have the opportunity to be nominated by YoungArts to the U.S. Presidential Scholars Commission and possibly selected as a U.S. Presidential Scholar in the Arts. If selected, they are invited to participate in National Recognition Week in Washington, D.C. where they will participate in a medal ceremony and have the opportunity to showcase their work in a performance at the Kennedy Center or an exhibition and presentation at the Smithsonian Museum of American Art.
Regional Programs
Inspired by YoungArts Week, regional programs are designed to offer ongoing opportunities and the YoungArts experience to winners in different regions across the nation. Regional programs currently offered are YoungArts New York, YoungArts Los Angeles, and YoungArts Miami, with plans to expand to other metropolitan areas.
How to Apply
To apply to YoungArts you must meet the requirements, complete an online application, pay a $35 (non-refundable) application fee (per category; fee waivers are available) and submit an online audition portfolio. Students may apply to more than one discipline/category.
For deadline information, please see above.
Eligibility
Citizens or legal residents of the United States or U.S. Territories who are age 15-18 on December 1, 2013, or in grades 10-12, may apply. International students who are studying in the U.S. on a student visa are eligible to apply. YoungArts reserves the right to extend eligibility on a case by case basis provided the applicant’s birthdate falls within 90 days before or after the designated guidelines.
Audition Portfolio Requirements
Each of our 10 disciplines (cinematic arts, dance, design arts, jazz, music, photography, theater, visual arts, voice, and writing) has specific requirements for the audition portfolio. Once you open the application, a drop down list of available disciplines and categories will be available to you. Please review these requirements carefully.
Adjudication of Application Materials and Audition Portfolio
YoungArts chooses winners through a blind adjudication process. This is why no identifying information is permitted on submitted audition portfolio materials. Our panelists review each submission and make their recommendations without any knowledge of the applicant’s personal information.
Notification of Application Status
Applicants will receive notification of their status via email by no later than the end of November and written confirmation by the end of December.
