2026 Monmouth Arts Emerging Artist Scholarship Program - Literary Arts

Each year, Monmouth Arts presents young art students with college scholarships through our Emerging Artist Scholarship Program. The program awards $1000 scholarships to three deserving Monmouth County high school seniors who are committed to pursuing the arts in higher education. ELIGIBILITY:  

• Student must be a matriculating high school senior, and be able to verify their intent to enroll in a higher education program in the fall, with degree of study focused in  literary arts.
• Student must be able to verify that they are a Monmouth County resident.
• Student must achieve at least a 3.5 GPA.
• Student must be a Student Member of Monmouth Arts. Interested applicants who are not already a member can join for FREE!
• Student must have a one-page recommendation letter written by a teacher. This can be either a school teacher or a private-study teacher; one recommendation only, please.

GUIDELINES:  

• Application must be submitted through Submittable.
• Application is due no later than 5:00 pm on April 3, 2026. No late applications will be accepted.
• Student should provide one high-resolution photograph (headshot, cap and gown portrait, etc.) suitable for publication.
• Student must submit 3-5 poems, or a short story, totaling up to 5 pages. Any style is acceptable.
• Performance of work is not required but accepted. If work is performed, a PDF of written work should be submitted alongside video submission.
• Video submissions should not exceed 5 minutes in length. Submissions exceeding 5 minutes will not be reviewed.
• Video submissions must be in .MP4 format.
• Submissions that do not include a video submission should not exceed 5 pages in length. Submissions exceeding 5 pages will not be reviewed.

NOTIFICATION OF RESULTS AND AWARD PRESENTATION:  

• All adjudication decisions are final.
• Comments/evaluation notes will not be returned following the application results.
• Adjudication panel will be made up of adjudicators from the Monmouth Arts Teen Arts Festival, and members of the Monmouth Arts Board of Trustees.
• Scholarship recipients must attend the 2026 Arts Education Awards  - details to be announced - in order to receive their award. Scholarship recipient will perform their work during the ceremony. Performance must be of the work submitted for consideration. Click here for information about the 2025 Arts Education Awards.
• Participants will be notified via email of their application results. Participants are not permitted to post the results of the audition on social media following notification until the official announcement of the scholarship recipients at the 2026 Arts Education Awards. After the ceremony, a press release will be issued naming the award recipients, which can then be shared with family and friends.