Academic Honors & Awards

Dean's List: In recognition of exceptional scholarship, first-year, sophomore, junior and senior art/design students who have earned at least 14 credit units under the letter grade option (excludes courses taken pass/fail or audit) and earned a semester grade-point average of 3.5 or higher during a semester will be cited on the Dean's List.

Latin Honors: Graduating Bachelor of Fine Arts or Bachelor of Arts degree students may also be considered for Latin Honors (cum laude, magna cum laude or summa cum laude) as determined by academic performance.

Prizes and Awards

The Scholars in Art Program provides named scholarship funds that have been donated to the university by individuals or companies specifically for this purpose. Selection is based on financial need and academic achievement. There is no application process.

Academic Scholarships

The College of Art offers one full-tuition and up to five partial-tuition scholarships each year solely on the basis of merit. Applicants for this award may also qualify for scholarship aid based on need and will be considered for this as well. The full-tuition Conway or Proetz Scholarship is awarded to an entering first-year student whose artistic and academic potential is judged outstanding by a faculty selection committee. The scholarship is supported by two endowed funds. The Fred Conway Scholarship was established in memory of a distinguished professor of painting in the College of Art. The Arthur and Esther Proetz Scholarship was established to honor the commitment and dedication to the arts of these two individuals.

Competition is national in scope, with finalists invited each year to visit the College of Art at the college's expense. At this time, one student is chosen to receive the full-tuition scholarship, and the other finalists are awarded partial scholarships. These are renewable for each year of undergraduate study, assuming continued academic and artistic excellence.

To be eligible, an applicant must be a high school senior who meets the following criteria:

  1. They have a strong high school transcript.
  2. Their SAT or ACT scores are in the upper range. (These tests are optional for 2023 and 2024.)

To enter the competition, the applicant must follow the usual admission application procedures by completing a Washington University first-year application and sending a digital portfolio of artwork. Portfolios should be submitted through Slideroom.

Awards and Prizes

Several awards are made each year to art students who are selected by the faculty. These awards and prizes include the following:

  • The Paul Edward Birdsall Award in Visual Communications
  • The Susan Sanders Block Silver Ripper Award in Fashion Design
  • The Belle Cramer Award in Printmaking
  • The Eda L. and Clarence C. Cushing Memorial Prize in Painting
  • The Anne Fuller Dillon Prize in Graphic Communications
  • The Mary Cowan Harford Award in Watercolor
  • The Marsha Hertzman Blasingame Award in Printmaking
  • The Morris M. Horwitz Award in Photography
  • The Hazel H. Huntsinger Memorial Prize in Painting
  • The Caroline Risque Janis Prize in Sculpture
  • The Nancy Spirtas Kranzberg Illustrated Book Award
  • The John J. and Marjory B. Lewin Photography Prize
  • The Peter Marcus Prize in Printmaking
  • The Dominic Michael Silver Scissors Designer of the Year Award
  • The John T. Milliken Foreign Travel Award
  • The Al Parker Award for Excellence in Illustration
  • The Jayne Ball Rousseau Memorial Prize in Graphic Communications
  • The Margo Trump Memorial Award
  • The Jack Unruh Award in Illustration
  • The Jeffrey Frank Wacks Scholarship Award
  • The Lillie Willemsen Prize

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