Due May 31 annually.

Up to two scholarships of $500 each may be awarded to graduating area high school students (grade 12) going on to post-secondary studies in the arts.

2021 scholarship recipients:

• Xavier Marican – (Music)
• Maeve Calhoun – (University of Victoria)

2020 scholarship recipients:

• Shael O’Brien – (Thompson Rivers University)
• Avery Stainton – (Emily Carr University)

2019 scholarship recipients:

• Cara Nicol – (University of Toronto)
• Aden Jameel Aziz – (Vancouver Film School)

2018 scholarship recipients:

• Sophia Doolan (visual arts)
• Christina Allen (visual arts)

2017 scholarship recipients:

• Kathleen Pilatzke (visual arts, University of Lethbridge)
• Lukas Vanderlip (theatre, Thompson Rivers University)

Due May 31 annually.

The Kristina Benson Art Scholarship was created to honour emerging artists pursuing post-secondary education in the visual arts and design fields. The scholarship will be awarded to a current or prospective student demonstrating eagerness, determination to succeed in their field and a passion to intuitively create! 1 (one) scholarship of $250 may be awarded each year.

2021 scholarship recipient:

Lucy Faraone (Bachelor of Fine Arts at TRU)

2019 scholarship recipient:

Catherine Archibald (Bachelor of Fine Arts at TRU)

2018 scholarship recipient:

Sophia Doolan (visual arts)

“This opened my eyes to a whole new world of artistic possibilities. I studied concepts of drawing and have purchased several books to support my continued study in this area.”
—Elaine Burns, “Drawing the Landscape”

“Thank you for your supportive vision in awarding me $400.00 toward my Professional Development. As an Artist devoted to my practice I had sought to broaden my personal investigations of clay and further explore the historic artistic legacy of the Anasazi. All of my hopes, dreams, and expectations of being able to gather new skills and information to be put toward transformative self empowering creations and community artistic use, was not only met, but surpassed…the uniquely passionate delivery of skilled instructions by authentic pottery replicator Cherylene Caver, was infectious, as she shared her personal insights into the fascinating mysteries of the Ancestral Puebloan peoples and culture…what a gift!!” 
—Leslie Bolin, sculptor

“The Kamloops Arts Council’s generous grant will go a long way to help me attend and offset the costs of the Sarah Pike workshop in Medicine Hat. I look forward to learning some great techniques and can hardly wait to share them with the arts community…thank you for this great opportunity.”
—Karen Clark, potter

“We are very grateful for this injection of funding as it allows us to start doing some recording, filming, and creating. It also gives us the confidence to move forward with other grant applications, so thank you for the opportunity to apply for this local grant…Thank You!”
—Christina Zaenker, “Crossbow”

“Thank you for helping to realize the goals of local artists like ourselves. It is enormously helpful… your grant of $500 allowed us to make the foundational recordings for our coming EP.”
—Neil Burnett & Christina Zaenker, “Crossbow”

“Thank you so much! We are so eager to continue developing this piece and the support of the KAC is immensely appreciated.”
—Randi Edmundson, “The Dorothy Project”
(A play about a family’s experience with dementia, developed in consultation with the Alzheimer’s Society of BC)

“The Online Masterclass was fantastic. The information was helpful from a practical standpoint and creatively fulfilling as well. I made a number of notes related to the Kamloops Film Festival that should have a positive impact on the future.”
—Dušan Magdolen, Kamloops Film Society

• Wendy Wessen – $700 towards materials to produce “as wise as nature’s wings”
• Ashya Cross – $350 towards Emily Carr Professional Development
• Carly Schmidt – $700 towards supply purchase for programming during COVID isolation
• Mike Kehler – $700 towards the purchase of Glowforge Machine
• Mike Alexander – $700 for Offset Supply Expenses
• Mike Weddell – $700 towards producing “CONNECTIONS: The Art of Storytelling”
• Mike Alexander – $500 for Offset Expenses
• Barb Klie – $225 for Foundations Workshop
• Linda Scarfo – $225 for Foundations Workshop
• Cjay Boisclair $1000 for offset expenses
• Emily Dundas Oke – $400 for International Residency in Lithuania
• Gail Clark – $200 for the Encaustic Burn Exploration workshop
• Wyatt Purcha – $400 for TRU Actor’s Workshop Theatre, Conflicte
• Patricia House – $500 for Federation of Canadian Artists 2018 Plein Air Retreat
• Juli Harland – $500 for attendance at the Surrey International Writers’ Conference, October 2018
• Kamloops Society for the Written Arts – $750 for KWSA Speakers Series
• Daniel Ondang – $500 for production of Agneéis & Mallaidh’s Radioactive Journey
• Eileen Funk – $125 for art workshop with Debbie Milner-Lively
• Melissa Thomas – $500 for training with Academy Duello
• Leah Bojey – $225 for Mastering Acrylics workshop with David Langevin
• Randi Edmundson – $500 for the Dorothy Project
• Leslie Bolin – $400 for ancestral Puebloan pottery replication workshop
• Karen Clark – $400 for pottery workshop at Medalta
• Shirley Ellen Dodding – $290 for attendance at Word on the Lake writers’ festival
• Karen Rubkiewicz – $400 for plein air workshop with James Middleton
• Linda Scarfo – $250 for painting workshop with Michael O’Toole
• Wendy Weseen – $400 for poetry workshop with Jan Zwicky
• Chimera Theatre – $500 for Hydra Theatre Festival
• Crossbow – $500 for first EP project
• Madison Olds – $1000 for Bees & the Bare Bones – Development
  
• Ana Bayona – $1000 for Dream House at TRU
• Bailey Finley – $1000 towards the Kamloops Music Collective’s Festival 2021