On Friday, February 11, 2022, as part of the 2022 BRIC Talent and Innovation Summit, via a special video presentation, Women in Animation’s Chair of Education Hsiang Chin Moe proudly announced the 36 recipients from all over the world of this year’s WIA Scholarships — the largest group to receive cash awards and honorable mentions to date.
The WIA Scholarship Program is an annual award committed to furthering deserving animation students who demonstrate artistic talent, a passion for animation, a financial need, and a promising future in the field of animation. Student members of WIA were encouraged to apply, no matter in what region of the world they are academically pursuing their animation career interests. The scholarship pool totals $28,000 and also features workshops, tutoring opportunities, animation equipment and software packages for recipients of the 2022 cycle from industry partners Animation Focus, Animation Mentor, Autodesk, Foundry, Laika, Toon Boom and Wacom.
“Providing direct support to future generations of animation creatives through WIA’s Scholarship program is essential to creating a more just and diverse animation industry. I am extremely proud of this diverse and talented group of 36 artists — and all the students in the world — who keep creating and sharing their stories. The much-needed change starts with all of you,” says Moe.
Out of 170 applications from 72 schools across the U.S. as well as Australia, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Finland, France, Germany, Indonesia, Mexico, Mongolia, Netherlands, Poland, South Korea, Spain and the Philippines during the 2021-2022 program, the WIA scholarship committee selected these 18 amazing students as most deserving of scholarships, in addition to 18 students as honorable mentions.
The scholarship recipients are (in alphabetical order):
- Anya Butler from California Institute of the Arts
- Laura Alejandra Correal Cardenas from Savannah College of Art and Design
- Anna Dinh from California State University Long Beach
- Elena Fazio from Ringling College of Art and Design
- Bekka Goldstein from Ringling College of Art and Design
- Meghan Graham from San Jose State University
- Yulong Jones from Ringling College of Art and Design
- Jennifer Nie from California Institute of the Arts
- Nomin Ochir from Rocky Mountain College of Art & Design
- Chelsea Ortega from School of Visual Arts
- Daphne Reynolds from Ringling College of Art and Design
- Vanessa Schneider from Animationsinstitut of Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg (Germany)
- Lou Thoby from Ecole MoPA – Motion Pictures in Arles (France)
- Jennifer Wu from Sheridan College (Canada)
- Kaiyun Yang from Ringling College of Art and Design
- Ollie Yao from School of Visual Arts
- Irida Zhonga from University of Groningen (The Netherlands)
- Joy Zhou from California Institute of the Arts
“The WIA Scholarship program is a perfect example of how given the proper tools, training and support, these brilliant students will be making the change we are working so hard toward in the animation field,” says Marge Dean, WIA President. “I am overjoyed to see we are building a truly global community with applicants from Australia, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Finland, France, Germany, Indonesia, Mexico, Mongolia, Netherlands, Poland, South Korea, Spain, and the Philippines. I can’t wait to see what these brilliant artists will do.”
The scholarship winners’ full bios and website links can be found on the WIA scholarship page.
Beyond those students who received cash scholarships, WIA also announced 18 Honorable Mention Winners who were awarded software and/or workshop packages to boost their animation skills. For yet another year, Toon Boom supported the WIA Scholarship Program with both software and scholarship funds. One-year bundled licenses of Storyboard Pro and Harmony Premium were awarded to finalists as well as virtual training. In addition to supporting the cash prize pool, Autodesk benefited this year’s recipients with licenses of their 3D modeling and animation software. Winners have the choice between one-year subscriptions of Autodesk Maya or Autodesk 3ds Max.
Three WIA scholarship recipients will each receive a place in a 2022 class with Animation Focus, which provides online animation tutoring on a 1 to 1 basis with a professional feature film character animator — 1 hour per week for 4 weeks. Scholarship partner Animation Mentor offered one WIA Animation Scholarship winner a six-week workshop of their choice from several course options, including Maya Workshop: Animation Basics and Cartoony Animation for 3D Animators.
Foundry will award $2,000 in scholarship funds together with a permanent Production Collective license to its suite of products, including Nuke Studio, Katana, Mari and Modo. Stop-motion powerhouse Laika joins the WIA Scholarship Program for the first time this year, giving out two cash awards up to $2,000 to two deserving students who specialize in stop-motion, to foster future talent that shares the same passion for the medium. Wacom is donating Cintiq Pro 16s — professional-level technology that will set the talent apart for both freelancing work and their creative portfolios, making them more hirable in the animation industry.
“I am beyond thrilled and in awe of the continued generosity of our sponsors and partners who have made these gracious donations that will allow our talented and deserving students the ability to reach their dreams and surpass our expectations. I know our Honorable Mention winners will do great things with access to these software and workshop prizes,” says Moe.
For more information or to join WIA, visit womeninanimaton.org.
