Gustave Blache III Scholarship Supports New Orleans Area Creatives
With support from the Gustave Blache III Art Scholarships for Aspiring Artists, the first recipient of the undergraduate scholarship, Marguerite “Maggie” Michel, has successfully completed her studies at the School of Visual Arts in New York City.
Named for accomplished Louisiana artist Gustave Blache III, the scholarship, which is administered by the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities, supports aspiring artists from Louisiana in pursuit of either a bachelor’s or master’s of fine arts degree at the School of Visual Arts.
Michel graduated from Benjamin Franklin High School in 2019. She received the undergraduate scholarship alongside graduate recipient Paul Michael Wright at LEH’s 2019 Bright Lights Awards Dinner. More of her work from her time at SVA can be found online at https://maggiemichel.myportfolio.com/.
“I’m so grateful to have had the opportunity to attend SVA,” said Michel. “I’ve met so many great people and learned so much! I’m excited for the future.”
Blache is an accomplished artist from Louisiana who is an alumnus of SVA and knows firsthand the power of an SVA education. His work is included in the permanent collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture and has been exhibited at the New Orleans Museum of Art.
Beginning his studies at the School of Visual Arts this fall will be Grayson Swearingen, the 2023 recipient of the scholarship. Swearingen will receive $10,000 in tuition support for each of his four years in the Bachelor of Fine Arts in Animation program, the most competitive department at SVA. Swearingen, who has known since the ninth grade that he wanted to study art, completed his senior year at Benjamin Franklin High School this spring.
“Maggie Michel and Grayson Swearingen are prime examples of what the Gustave Blache III Art Scholarship (GBAS) represents – providing the opportunity for one student to graduate with their art degree from the School of Visual Arts (SVA) in New York to now embark on their art career journey while the latter enters that same premiere art institution, with the hopes and dreams of learning from the best and the brightest art minds that art school can offer,” Blache stated.
Prospective students who are interested in the scholarship can learn more at https://leh.org/our-work/the-helis-foundation-john-scott-center/gustave-blache-iii-art-scholarships/. Applications for scholarships supporting students entering SVA for the 2024-25 school year will open in the fall of this year.