Emerging Artist Scholarship Program

YVR Art Foundation offers Emerging Artist Scholarships of $5000 each to British Columbia and Yukon Indigenous artists who are between the ages of 17 and 29 years (born between 1994 – 2006) and who presently reside in BC or the Yukon.

Scholarships are awarded on an annual basis to Emerging Artists who create visual art that reflects BC or Yukon First Nations culture and who wish to further their artistic career by expanding their work or practice into a new area, by study or work with a Mentor artist or attend a school of art. Visual Art can include (but is not limited to) drawing, painting, digital art + design, illustration, carving, sculpture, printmaking, textiles, animation, photography, video and film.

Up to seven Emerging Artist Scholarship recipients will be selected per scholarship year by a Jury composed of senior Indigenous artists and/or curators. All applicants will receive notification of the Emerging Artist Scholarship results by April 2023. Scholarship recipients will then be awarded and invited to attend a Scholarship Awards Reception in Vancouver in May 2023.  

Scholarship recipients will be invited back to Vancouver in 2024 to display their finished artwork at the awards reception, followed by an exhibition of their work at YVR. (Travel and accommodation will be provided as part of the scholarship).

Scholarship Artwork

Applicants for the Emerging Artist Scholarship award propose to create an artwork during their Scholarship year that is representative of the skills developed through the proposed mentorship or educational opportunity. Emerging Artist Scholarship award recipients then have the option to display their final artwork at the YVR Vancouver International Airport, and the potential opportunity to showcase their work with YVRAF’s other community partners.

To be eligible for a YVR Art Foundation Emerging Artist Scholarship, applicants must:

• Be of BC or Yukon First Nations ancestry
• Reside in BC or Yukon
• Be between the ages of 17 and 29 in 2023 (born between 1994 – 2006)
• Create visual* art that engages with BC or Yukon First Nations culture, and/or significant to the artist’s ancestry, research practice, or community. *We encourage artists practicing outside of traditional visual arts mediums, or engaging in multidisciplinary art practices to still apply
• Have the goal of becoming a professional artist
• Have been accepted to study with a Mentor artist or attend a school of art
• Commit to attending the Scholarship Awards Ceremony/Reception in Vancouver on May 25, 2023 (travel and accommodation will be provided as part of the scholarship)
• Commit to attending the Scholarship Opening Reception of their completed artwork, one year later, by May 31, 2024 (travel and accommodation will be provided as part of the scholarship)
• The scholarship recipient must arrange and deliver their completed artwork to YVR no later than April 30, 2024

Note: an Emerging Artist Scholarship can be awarded to an individual a maximum of two times.