DES MOINES Iowa high school students who will attend an Iowa college or university next fall with a major in an arts discipline may apply for the Iowa Arts Council’s 2016-2017 Iowa Scholarship for the Arts by Feb. 1, 2017.

The Iowa Arts Council awards the Iowa Scholarship for the Arts annually to select Iowa high school students who are accepted as full-time undergraduates at fully accredited Iowa colleges or universities and pursue majors in dance, literature, music, theater, traditional arts or visual arts. This year’s recipients will each receive $1,500 toward their 2017-2018 academic year expenses.

Students must complete an application at www.iowaartscouncil.slideroom.com, write an essay about their artistic vision and the role of art in their lives, and provide work samples and one letter of recommendation from a teacher or professional. The application deadline is Feb. 1, 2017. Scholarship recipients are honored at an award ceremony at the State Capitol in Spring 2017. Contact Veronica O’Hern at veronica.ohern@iowa.gov for more information.

The Iowa Scholarship for the Arts was established in conjunction with a benefit concert by world-renowned opera singer Simon Estes for the state of Iowa’s Homecoming ’86 celebration. Two years later, the Iowa Arts Council established an endowment to guarantee perpetual funding of the program. Initial partners that contributed funds to establish the endowment included Two Rivers Arts Festival and Raccoon River Brewing Company in Des Moines, the Ameristar Casino in Council Bluffs, and private donations by Iowa Arts Council board members and private citizens.

The Iowa Arts Council is a division of the Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs. More information is available at www.iowaculture.gov.