PYAA Scholarship Program
Progressive Young Artist Awards
What does it mean to be progressive? For generations, progressive was an indifferent word that simply meant, “moving forward or onward: advancing.” At some point in the word’s evolution, it became associated with innovation and the making use of or interested in new ideas, findings, and opportunities. In the early 20th century, it began to have political connotations. It was a period that saw significant social and political change. Today, all these definitions still remain true. Simply put, to progress is to set out to better one’s self or others. PYAA is offering three (3) $1,000 scholarships to high school juniors or seniors whose works best exemplify progressive values.
Judging Criteria
The scholarship will be awarded to the applicant who best demonstrates a genuine desire and goal of using their progressive style of art to bring awareness to personal progression, gender rights, the LGBTQ community, equal rights, political rights, or their own unique topic of progressive thought displayed in artwork. Each judge is hand-picked by the PYAA staff for their expertise, experience, and commitment to recognizing bold, socially conscious art.
Specifically, we are looking for:
- High school juniors or seniors who have won an PYAA Annual Gold Medal Winner.
- High academic achievement as evidence by gpa, standardized test scores or academic awards, e.g. Olympiad medals.
- 1 recommendation from a faculty member
Scholarship Dates and Submission
When: We are currently accepting submissions.
Where: All entries will automatically be considered for the scholarship with no additional registration or fee required. There is no additional fee for the scholarship program. We will contact you via email for more information.
Deadline: The deadline for submissions is July 1, 2026. Winners will be announced by August 1, 2026.
Past Winners
“Red Red”
“Colored”
“Smoked”
“Prizoo”
“Transwaves”
“Sustain”
“Missing”
“Color Spectrum”
