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The 2024 SVA Alumni Scholarship Awards winners have been announced, with 86 thesis or portfolio projects out of 204 applications receiving a total of $62,000. This assistance helps the artists realize their visions for the work as well as materially and emotionally support them during the challenging transition from upcoming graduation to entering the workforce.

“We are extremely thankful for receiving the Alumni Scholarship Award because it will allow us to compensate the friends and underclassmen who have been helping us complete this film,” BFA Animation seniors Zara Warach and Aishwarya Dhulipala said in a statement about their animated short Fish Eye. “On a personal level, we are grateful for the recognition from SVA as it has validated and motivated us and our passion for animation.”

Avery Mei Skillin’s (BFA Fine Arts) thesis project, Self Sabotage, is an exhibition of paintings concerning themes of childhood autonomy, female anger and forced femininity through the perspective of a little girl navigating her own identity throughout a cruel imaginary world. “Receiving this scholarship has given me the support and opportunity to be able to make my thesis everything I've dreamed of it being,” she explained.

Established in 1999, the Alumni Scholarship Awards are presented annually to SVA students. “The SVA Alumni Society’s Alumni Scholarship Awards provide a profound sense of relief for students as they finish up their final projects and prepare to leave SVA,” Jane Nuzzo, director of Alumni Affairs and Development, said. “In addition to supporting them financially, the scholarships help the soon-to-be graduates to feel even more confident in their work and push them to exceed their own expectations.”

Each year, the SVA Alumni Society, an independent 501(c)(3) non-profit, administers over 25 scholarship and award funds, including the Alumni Scholarship Awards program, distributing funding to distinguished undergraduate and graduate students working in a variety of disciplines. A jury of alumni—working creative professionals whom the Alumni Society selects—adjudicates the awards. “The Scholarship Awards would not be possible without our jury of alumni who conscientiously reviewed over 200 applications this year,” Nuzzo continued. “We are so grateful for the time and expertise they contributed to this process and for their ability to recognize the merit and ingenuity of the applicants′ amazing projects.”

“The Alumni Scholarship gives us confidence in knowing that our project is something worth supporting,” Shengnan (Shay) Dong and Michael Dondero (MFA Computer Arts) said about their humorous stop-motion animated narrative short film, Nostril, about relationship struggles.

Scholarship winner Zhenyu Pan (BFA Illustration) expressed appreciation for the support of her project Hope in the Bottle, a children’s book exploring the theme of building relationships in children’s literature focusing on nurturing empathy and promoting a sense of belonging among young readers. “Thanks to the SVA Alumni Scholarship, [this] means that I can bring baby Hope’s journey to life with greater depth and detail, ensuring that its message of friendship and resilience reaches readers far and wide.”

For the complete list of 2024 Alumni Scholarship Award recipients, click here. For more information about the SVA Alumni Society and its scholarships, visit sva.edu/alumnisociety or email alumnisociety@sva.edu.