2024 Applications are now closed.
THE PUNKY ALOHA SCHOLARSHIP
For Kānaka Maoli & Pasifika Creatives
8 SCHOLARSHIPS. $7,500 TOTAL FUNDS.
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(1) $2,500
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(1) $1,500
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(1) $1,000
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(5) $500
OUR VOICES. OUR STORIES.
This scholarship is being awarded directly to the recipient, so it will be up to you how you use it. Maybe this helps you with tuition. Maybe this helps with supplies. Maybe this helps with a couple bills or allows you to take one less shift so you can give your self the mental space to breathe and create in a calm state. This scholarship is meant to help lift up our creative voices in the Pasifika community, whether you are enrolled in college or not. No matter where you are at in your art journey, your story deserves to be heard.
A message from Shar:
I have been so fortunate to have a career in the arts and I just want EVERY creative to have the chance the have their voices be heard.
Art has healed me. It IS healing me. And my culture empowers me.
To be from the moana, to be indigenous to the ocean, is to have a very unique and powerful perspective and I want the world know what incredible gifts we have to offer. I want them AND us to hear our stories, from our voices.
When I first started taking art classes in college, I was a single mama, working 2-3 jobs, and barely making enough for food and rent. I struggled my way through art school, living on welfare, food stamps, crying through the holidays knowing I couldn’t give my daughter a proper Christmas, and mastering the art of stretching my last $20 for a month. BUT I surrounded myself with people who encouraged me and THAT is what fed me. It changed the way I viewed myself. I applied for scholarships, grants, and loans, and made it through to the end. So I know first hand...it isn’t easy. But I want to encourage you!
Carving Career Pathways for Rising Creatives
Congratulations to the 2023 Punky Aloha Scholarship awardees on their creative journeys:
Lehuanani A.
Kaiminaauao K.
Kanani K.
Sarah F.
Apikale F.
Ngaio S.
Josefa K.
Kiana Joy W.