2017 School of the Art Institute of Chicago Scholarship Recipients

Elmi Ventura Mata, 23, Philadelphia, $3,000 to refine his painting skills, technically and conceptually by taking Shonna Renee Pryor’s Introduction to Oil Painting class and Rebecca George’s Painting Materials+Methods course. He is a graduate of the Cleveland Institute of Arts and is enrolled in the master’s in fine arts program at Temple University.

Alex Chandler Stein, 25, Long Grove, IL, $1,000 to sharpen his skills as a visual artist and improve his creative approach as a performer by taking Valerie Anne Xanos’ Experimental Painting /Drawing Intensive. He is a graduate of the University of Chicago with a degree in theater and performance and a minor in visual arts. He works with theater companies and performance ensembles in Chicago and film projects in the Midwest.