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Scholarships and Bursaries

Place des Arts awards annual scholarships and bursaries to help students in their pursuit of excellence in the visual, literary and performing arts. Scholarships are awarded to students in recognition of artistic excellence and achievement or for overcoming a challenge. Bursaries are awarded based on financial need.

Bursaries

Place des Arts offers bursaries on an ongoing basis to students ages 17 and under who wish to take classes or lessons at Place des Arts but may not be able to afford the full fees. Bursary applications are accepted throughout the year; the deadline to receive an application is 6 weeks before the class/lesson start date to which the bursary is intended to be applied.

Apply here

Scholarships

Scholarships are reviewed and adjudicated by an impartial scholarship committee using a pre-determined scoring matrix. The decision of the scholarship committee is final.

Criteria for all Place des Arts Scholarships:

1. Statement of Intent: A brief statement (less than 300 words) describing why you feel you are a good candidate for a scholarship from Place des Arts
2. Years of study at Place des Arts
3. Achievement and awards related to the applied art discipline
4. Academic achievements
5. Participation in festivals, performances or exhibitions, or published work
6. Attendance in any additional classes, workshops, master classes or clinics related to the applied art discipline
7. Volunteer experience
8. Extra-curricular activities
9. Recommendation letter from a Place des Arts teacher (sent directly from the teacher to the Scholarship and Bursary Coordinator)
10. Examples of Work

Applications for the 2024-2025 season will be open soon!

Apply here

Please see below for criteria and eligibility for specific scholarships, as supplementary materials may be required.

Place des Arts Scholarships
Every year, Place des Arts awards scholarships based on artistic excellence and achievement (as a solo performer or within a group) or for overcoming a personal challenge. These scholarships are open to students ages 9-12 (Junior category) and 13 and up who are registered in music, dance, theatre, literary or visual arts classes at Place des Arts.

Eligibility:

  1. Student must have completed at least one session and be currently enrolled at Place des Arts.
  2. Student must be at least 9 years of age.

Scholarship for Advanced Musical Studies
Place des Arts’ Scholarship for Advanced Musical Studies is awarded annually and is open to all Place des Arts music students working toward their grade 10 or ARCT (or equivalent) levels. This award helps offset the high expense of senior musical studies and provides students with an extra incentive to continue with their music education.

Eligibility:

  1. Open to Place des Arts music students who have completed Grade 9 RCM (or equivalent) and are currently pursuing grade 10 or ARCT (or equivalent) studies.
  2. Student must have completed two full years of study at Place des Arts by June 21, 2025.
  3. Students who received the Scholarship for Advanced Musical Studies in 2024 are not eligible to apply.
  4. This award must be used towards your musical studies or towards purchasing instruments/supplies that will benefit your musical education.
  5. Winner must write a thank you letter and include how they spent the money.

Additional Criteria:

  1. Supplementary Recommendation Letter from a teacher outside Place des Arts.
  2. Student should indicate how this award would assist in achieving their future musical goals in their Statement of Intent.

Fern Bouvier Arts Legacy Award
This award recognizes an advanced Place des Arts student studying in any artistic discipline who intends to pursue their arts education at a post-secondary or professional institution and has a long-term connection to Place des Arts through lessons, performances/exhibitions and/or volunteerism. The award is open to students of any artistic discipline.

Eligibility

  1. Student has a long-term connection (5+ years) at Place des Arts, who may have studied in more than one discipline and/or has been involved with Place des Arts as a volunteer.
  2. Student demonstrates a high level of performance and training (e.g has achieved ARCT standing in music or shows artistic excellence in their chosen discipline).
  3. Student must show proof of acceptance to continue their studies at a post-secondary institution.

Don Portelance Scholarship for Advanced Visual Arts Studies
A master artist and teacher, Don Portelance has taught gifted young artists at Place des Arts for over 30 years. This award recognizes an intermediate or advanced Place des Arts teen or adult visual arts student/emerging artist who is actively developing their art practice with the intention of continuing their studies in the visual arts and/or creating a body of work.

Eligibility:

  1. Open to a Place des Arts students in Visual, Ceramic and Fibre arts.
  2. Student has a long-term connection (3+ years) to Place des Arts, who may have studied in more than one discipline and/or has been involved with Place des Arts as a volunteer.
  3. Student demonstrates a high level of skill (e.g., shows artistic excellence in their chosen discipline).
  4. Student should indicate how this award would assist in achieving their future artistic goals in their Statement of Intent.
  5. Student must submit a portfolio of digital images of works completed in the past 12 months. Portfolios must not exceed 6 images. If they do, only the first 6 images will be reviewed.
  6. Student must be at least 12 years of age .

Elliott Harty Piano Scholarship
Elliott Harty studied piano at Place des Arts for 7 years. He was due to take his grade 9 piano exam on the day he died following a tragic motorcycle accident on June 14, 2007 at age seventeen. To honour his memory, his family, friends and Place des Arts established the Elliott Harty Piano Scholarship. Each year it will be awarded to the Place des Arts piano student aged 12 and up who shows the greatest improvement over the year.

Eligibility:

  1. Student must have studied at Place des Arts for a minimum of one year by June 21, 2025.
  2. Student must be at least 12 years of age.
  3. Student must currently be studying at a minimum grade 6 piano level.
  4. Student may be the most improved in either attitude or achievement or a consistently hardworking student.
  5. Students who received a scholarship from Place des Arts in 2024 are not eligible to apply.

Leonore Peyton Memorial Award
This award was established in memory of Leonore Peyton, former Place des Arts Executive Director and founding member. This award is open to a Place des Arts student in any discipline. This scholarship is awarded to an exceptional student studying in any discipline at Place des Arts.

Eligibility:

  1. Student must have studied at Place des Arts for a minimum of one year by June 21, 2025.
  2. Student must be at least 12 years of age.

W.H. Sclater Memorial Scholarship
Born in New Westminster, Bill Sclater was well-known for his adult and children’s visual arts classes. This scholarship is presented annually to a student aged 7 and up at Place des Arts to further his or her studies and growth in the field of visual arts.

Eligibility:

  1. Open to individual Place des Arts visual arts students age 7 and up.
  2. Student must have completed one full year of study, or three consecutive sessional courses at Place des Arts by June 21, 2025.
  3. Students who received a scholarship from Place des Arts in 2024 are not eligible to apply.

Coquitlam Maillardville Heritage Trust Award (CMHT)
The CMHT Award is an annual award founded in recognition of the Coquitlam-Maillardville Heritage Trust’s generous contributions to the Place des Arts Endowment Fund. The CMHT award will benefit a promising student studying in any discipline at Place des Arts. This scholarship is awarded to a Coquitlam resident.

Eligibility:

  1. Student must include how they want to give back to the community in their Statement of Intent.
  2. Student must be at least 12 years of age.

 

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