Five CalArtians are among 36 honorees of the latest Women in Animation Scholarships, an international program that recognizes talent in the field.
Women in Animation’s chair of education, Hsiang Chin Moe, announced the 2021-2022 honorees this month as part of the 2022 BRIC Talent and Innovation Summit. The annual scholarship award is granted to animation students who show artistic talent, a passion for animation, financial need and a promising future in the animation field.
For this round of scholarships, more than 170 applications rolled in from 72 schools across the U.S., Australia, Brazil, Colombia, France, South Korea and 10 other countries. From that pool, the Women in Animation scholarship committee selected 18 scholarship recipients and 18 more students as honorable mentions.
The recipients at CalArts are story artist Kaiyun (Kyky) Yang (Film/Video BFA 24), filmmaker Jennifer Nie (Film/Video BFA 23) and artist and animator Anya Butler (Film/Video BFA 2022), all of whom are in the Character Animation program. Two peers in the program — Michelle Tang (Film/Video BFA 23), who specializes in storyboarding, and Anya Martin (Film/Video BFA 24), who focuses on stories and writing — received honorable mentions.
Visit the Women in Animation website for more details about the honorees. The 36 recipients represent the largest group to receive cash awards and honorable mentions to date, the program said. Sponsors and supporters include Animation Focus, Animation Mentor, Autodesk, Foundry, Laika, Toon Boom, Wacom and the Women in Animation Bay Area and Montreal chapters.
Information about last year’s winners — including CalArtian Tessa Abrams (Film/Video BFA 23) — is available through the Women in Animation site.
—by Adam Smeltz
