Donor Scholarships

Merit-based
Competitive application
Adults only

For over 30 years, Gage Academy of Art has centered its mission around educating, enriching, and transforming our community through the visual arts. Gage Academy of Art’s scholarship program supports Gage’s commitment to making arts education accessible and equitable to everyone.

Each year applications are carefully reviewed and granted by a rotating panel of local and national artists and creative leaders in the greater Seattle area and beyond.

Our donor-supported scholarships are made possible through the generosity of individual donors within our community. Contact Carl Gellert (gellert.c@gageacademy.org) to learn how you can support access to arts education.

Below are the scholarships available to student applicants for Gage Academy of Art’s 2025-2026 academic year. Application deadline: May 6, 2025. Scholarship awards will be announced the first week of June.

2025-2026 Academic Year Scholarships

The Stanley R. and Robert E. Wright Foundation for the Arts Scholarship

One $5,000 award towards any Atelier program

A partial scholarship dedicated to the continuation of artistic excellence and the creative pursuit of aesthetic beauty through the fields of fine art, commercial art, and classical music. This needs-based scholarship is awarded to a student between the ages of 17 and 27 who demonstrates outstanding ability and motivation to pursue a career in their field.

Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) Scholarship Fund

One $4,500 award towards any Atelier program

The BIPOC Scholarship is a partial scholarship designed to empower and support BIPOC students by providing funding to enroll in one of Gage Academy of Art’s renowned Atelier programs during the 2025-2026 academic year.

The Dennis Evans & Nancy Mee Scholarship

Two $2,500 awards towards any Atelier program, or adult classes/workshops

The Dennis Evans & Nancy Mee Scholarship was established to support Gage students who are experimental and are not afraid to challenge traditional art boundaries within their artistic approach.

The Michael and Jamie Rawding Atelier Scholarship

One $2,500 award towards any Atelier program

The Michael and Jamie Rawding Atelier Scholarship is a partial scholarship for incoming and current students of Gage’s Atelier program.

The Allan and Mary Kollar Scholarship

One $1,000 award towards any Atelier program

The Allan and Mary Kollar Scholarship is a partial scholarship designated for a Gage Atelier student. The Atelier program is designed for artists who intend to pursue profound mastery in the disciplines of painting, drawing, or sculpture under the guidance of an internationally renowned teaching artist.

Special thanks to our 2025-2026 Jurors

Rob Kmiec began his journey in arts education as a volunteer CG instructor at the Cambridge Community Art Center while earning a B.F.A. in Illustration from the Massachusetts College of Art and Design. He later taught art and developed the CG program at Catholic Memorial School, where he also served as department chair and faculty representative to the board. After earning his Master’s degree from Syracuse University, Rob moved west to become chair of the Fine Arts Department at DigiPen Institute of Technology in Redmond. There, he built a dynamic team of instructors, co-authored program revisions, and supported institutional growth with overseas partners in Singapore, Spain, Japan, and Thailand. Rob is now the Director of the Kirkland Arts Center, where he focuses on cultivating arts experiences and fostering community connections.

Arianna Webber has worked as an arts and culture professional for over 10 years. Previously she served as Advancement Manager at Gage Academy of Art, and she has worked with a wide range of other arts and cultural organizations, including the Helene Wurlizter Foundation, Northwest Film Forum, and the Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts at Harvard University. Webber graduated from Bennington College in 2019, where she majored in Visual Arts and Media Studies. Currently she works at Patricia Rovzar Gallery, where she continues to be a champion for the arts.

Romson Regarde is a Seattle-based artist, born on the island of Mindanao, the Philippines. His layered works and immersive collaborations are tied to his Philippine lineage, South Seattle-Pacific Northwest upbringing, and extensive research travels. Carving his own path, Bustillo integrates a printmaking foundation with a transdisciplinary approach. Often exploring universal themes of belonging and perseverance, his work nurtures the act of examining and re-examining one's place in society concurrent with the process of ideation. He was awarded the Seattle Print Arts Larry Sommers Art Fellowship in 2026. He is the recipient of an Artist Trust Fellowship (2019) and the Artist Trust Artist Innovator Award (2021). He received a Northwest Film Forum/Andy Warhol Foundation Collective Power Fund Award in 2022 in the "New Work Projects" category. Recent Residencies include, Centro Negra (Murcia, Spain), Jack Straw Culture Center (Seattle, WA), and the Museum of Glass (Tacoma, WA).