Tyler’s Creative Scholars Program is a yearlong, full-scholarship art program for talented students attending public and charter high schools in the School District of Philadelphia.
As a Creative Scholar, you’ll take part in an intensive art experience that includes studio courses, visits to artists’ studios, and workshops with major cultural institutions. You’ll build your skills, expand your creative thinking, and get support as you prepare a strong portfolio for applying to top art, design, and architecture schools.
Students must be nominated to participate.
“The vision and the mission of the Creative Scholars Program is for high school students to have a place where they can make and create and be themselves, and to help open their eyes to the possibility of art as a career choice. This program very much makes you believe that you can do whatever you want, as long as you give yourself time to learn and physically take up the space to do it.”
As a Creative Scholar, you’ll take three studio courses each semester and participate in portfolio reviews with Tyler’s Admissions team.
You’ll also join collaborative workshops with amazing partners like the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, the Fabric Workshop and Museum, Mural Arts Philadelphia, Eastern State Penitentiary, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and Taller Puertorriqueño. You’ll meet practicing artists, attend artist talks, and visit working studios to see what a creative career really looks like.
You’ll use professional art tools and software like Adobe Lightroom, Adobe Premiere, Krita, After Effects, and more—and all materials for your classes are provided. The program also includes college prep workshops to help you feel confident and ready for the admissions process and for success in college.
All Creative Scholars receive full tuition, materials, SEPTA passes for travel, as well as breakfast and lunch. This is made possible through a generous grant from the Jacques and Natasha Gelman Foundation, whose mission is to provide support for emerging visual artists and the arts.
At the end of the academic year, you’ll have the opportunity to showcase your artwork in Tyler’s gallery, Temple Contemporary. Family, friends, faculty and the community are all invited to the exhibition opening.
Here, you’ll gain a deep grounding in the methods and principles of traditional animation, and the ability to analyze movement and convey emotion and meaning through a series of drawings. You’ll view short films, experiment with a variety of techniques, participate in group discussions, and create a polished work from start to finish. This process will include idea gathering, writing, storyboarding, roughs, iteration, finals and critique.
In this course, you’ll learn the fundamentals of black-and-white film photography and traditional darkroom printing. You will shoot with 35mm film cameras and make prints using enlargers and chemical processes. The course covers essential techniques such as exposure and contrast control. You’ll have the chance to explore the creative and expressive potential of analog photography through hands on practice and critique.
In this introductory studio course, you learn basic processes of glassworking techniques. Glass studio operations and studio safety will be covered in detail. You’ll explore glass sculpting, cold assemblage, glass finishing, and teamwork through hands-on demonstrations. This class is truly special, as it provides a rare opportunity to work with the otherworldly material of glass. Whether this is your only experience with glass or the beginning of something more, you’ll expand your creative and practical skills in a supportive classroom community.
Students in the Metals and Jewelry class learn traditional techniques and create unique jewelry and objects using metals and alloys. The class fosters creativity and hands-on experience, allowing students to explore their artistic expression while building technical skills. It offers opportunities for experimentation with different design approaches and encourages students to refine their craft. The course also provides a foundation for those interested in pursuing further study or a career in the field.
This course explores ideas and concepts within film and video. Through discussions and exercises, you’ll develop technical software skills and methods of self-expression. This course encourages a multidisciplinary approach, helping you move beyond traditional, linear storytelling. You’ll learn how to create a short film using the basic principles of professional film and editing equipment.
The Creative Scholars Program is a full-scholarship program open to rising 9th, 10th, 11th and 12th grade students in Philadelphia School District Public and Charter High Schools. Students must be nominated by teachers, guidance counselors or mentors to be considered for the Creative Scholars Program.
You will be guided to create a Temple University Non-Credit account and proceed to start the online application. You will need to include contact information for your chosen nominator. Nominators then submit a brief statement of support.
You’ll also need to submit a letter of interest and three work samples.
Creative Scholars Program Specialist
215-777-9098 (office)
Office: Suite 110F
