BAM To Award Scholarships At DanceAfrica Kickoff Event

With school budget cuts looming on the city and state level, arts programs are often the first to get put on the chopping block.

However, in a ceremony honoring scholarship recipients at a kickoff event for this weekend’s festival, the  planned to continue its focus on investing in the future of the art and artists of tomorrow.

On Friday night, BAM will officially award six individuals with two- and four-year scholarships for students pursuing degrees in the performing arts or arts administration with a focus on dance or theater.

Launched by trustee Richard Feldman in 2003, the Samuel H. Scripps BAM Scholarship Fund benefits students of the institution’s arts education program, including the DanceAfrica initiative.

“Samuel Scripps really loved DanceAfrica,” said BAM education director Suzanne Youngerman of the noted philanthropist, who died in 2007. “So awarding these scholarships in conjunction with the festival really honors that.”

According to Youngerman, the scholarships are an important part of BAM’s educational mission — one that was more critical than ever as government funding for arts programs continued to fall victim to fiscal belt-tightening.

“This is supplementing… filling in the gaps in arts education in the schools,” she said. “What we’re doing everyday is to make up for the arts programs that have suffered so much over the years.”

In addition to the scholarship ceremony, the free outdoor will transform the streets surrounding BAM into a global marketplace of African, Caribbean, and African American food, fashion, artifacts, jewelry and crafts through the long weekend.