February 11th, 2022 
Jerry Beck 
On Friday, February 11, 2022, as part of the 2022 BRIC Talent and Innovation Summit, via a special video presentation, WIA’s Chair of Education Hsiang Chin Moe proudly announced the 36 recipients from all over the world of this year’s WIA Scholarships — the largest group to receive cash awards and honorable mentions to date. The WIA Scholarship Program is an annual award committed to furthering deserving animation students who demonstrate artistic talent, a passion for animation, a financial need, and a promising future in the field of animation. Student members of WIA were encouraged to apply, no matter in what region of the world they are academically pursuing their animation career interests. The scholarship pool totals $28,000 and also features workshops, tutoring opportunities, animation equipment, and software packages for recipients of the 2022 cycle from industry partners Animation Focus, Animation Mentor, Autodesk, Foundry, Laika, Toon Boom and Wacom.
“Providing direct support to future generations of animation creatives through WIA’s Scholarship program is essential to creating a more just and diverse animation industry. I am extremely proud of this diverse and talented group of 36 artists — and all the students in the world — who keep creating and sharing their stories. The much-needed change starts with all of you,” says Moe, WIA’s Chair of Education.
Out of 170 applications from 72 schools across the US as well as Australia, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Finland, France, Germany, Indonesia, Mexico, Mongolia, Netherlands, Poland, South Korea, Spain, and the Philippines during the 2021-2022 program, the WIA scholarship committee selected these 18 amazing students as most deserving of scholarships, in addition to 18 students as honorable mentions. The scholarship recipients are (in alphabetical order):
Anya Butler from California Institute of the Arts
Laura Alejandra Correal Cardenas from Savannah College of Art and Design
Anna Dinh from California State University Long Beach
Elena Fazio from Ringling College of Art and Design
Bekka Goldstein from Ringling College of Art and Design
Meghan Graham from San Jose State University
Yulong Jones from Ringling College of Art and Design
Jennifer Nie from California Institute of the Arts
Nomin Ochir from Rocky Mountain College of Art & Design
Chelsea Ortega from School of Visual Arts
Daphne Reynolds from Ringling College of Art and Design
Vanessa Schneider from Animationsinstitut of Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg
Lou Thoby from Ecole MoPA – Motion Pictures in Arles
Jennifer Wu from Sheridan College
Kaiyun Yang from Ringling College of Art and Design
Ollie Yao from School of Visual Arts
Irida Zhonga from University of Groningen
Joy Zhou from California Institute of the Arts
“The WIA Scholarship program is a perfect example of how given the proper tools, training and support, these brilliant students will be making the change we are working so hard toward in the animation field,” Marge Dean, WIA president says. “I am overjoyed to see we are building a truly global community with applicants from Australia, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Finland, France, Germany, Indonesia, Mexico, Mongolia, Netherlands, Poland, South Korea, Spain, and the Philippines. I can’t wait to see what these brilliant artists will do.”
The scholarship winners’ full bios and website links can be found on the WIA scholarship page.
Beyond those students who received cash scholarships, WIA also announced 18 Honorable Mention Winners who were awarded software and/or workshop packages to boost their animation skills. For yet another year, Toon Boom supported the WIA Scholarship Program with both software and scholarship funds. One-year bundled licenses of Storyboard Pro and Harmony Premium were awarded to finalists as well as virtual training. In addition to supporting the cash prize pool, Autodesk benefited this year’s recipients with licenses of their 3D modeling and animation software. Winners have the choice between one-year subscriptions of Autodesk Maya or Autodesk 3ds Max. Animation Focus provides online animation tutoring on a 1 to 1 basis with a professional feature film character animator — 1 hour per week for 4 weeks. Three WIA scholarship recipients will each receive a place in a 2022 Animation Focus class. Scholarship partner Animation Mentor offered one WIA Animation Scholarship winner a six-week workshop and will allow that awardee the choice of several courses including Maya Workshop: Animation Basics and Cartoony Animation for 3D Animators. Foundry will award $2,000 in scholarship funds together with a permanent Production Collective license to its suite of products, including Nuke Studio, Katana, Mari and Modo. WIA is proud to have stop motion powerhouse, Laika, join the WIA Scholarship Program for the first time this year. They will be giving out two cash awards, up to $2,000 to two deserving students who specialize in stop motion. Laika hopes to take this opportunity to foster future talent that shares the same passion for stop motion filmmaking. Wacom is donating Cintiq Pro 16’s because they understand the importance of having professional-level technology as it will set the talent apart for both freelancing work and their creative portfolios making them more hirable in the animation industry.
“I am beyond thrilled and in awe of the continued generosity of our sponsors and partners who have made these gracious donations that will allow our talented and deserving students the ability to reach their dreams and surpass our expectations. I know our Honorable Mention winners will do great things with access to these software and workshop prizes,” says Moe.
Special thanks to WIA’s sponsors: Animation Focus, Animation Mentor, Autodesk, Foundry, Laika, Toon Boom, Wacom, and the WIA Bay Area and Montreal chapters for making this year’s program possible.
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