Grant Applications Available by Invitation Only for 2009-2010 Academic Year

Liberace created his Foundation for the Performing & Creative Arts in 1976 because he had received scholarship support to study at conservatory in Wisconsin for 17 years. He extended his generosity beyond just piano and music because of his love of all of the arts.

We are pleased that Mr. Showmanship's generous legacy has supported over 2,500 students at more than 120 colleges & universities in the past 30+ years.

Our application process has previously been open to colleges and universities with deadlines in the late winter/early spring. We generally receive applications from as many as 70 or more schools. Last year requests were for more than $750,000 so we are always moved by the obvious depth of need in support of arts education. We were able to award more than $200,000 to 21 schools for 2008-09.

Unfortunately, due to current economic conditions and the market downturn we do not anticipate being able to fund grants at historic levels for the 2009-10 academic year. The Foundation Board has notified our current schools that funding will be decreasing and that the application process for the next academic year will be by invitation. There will be no new schools considered for this funding cycle.

Please continue to watch this web site for information about the programs that we do fund and for information about our scholars.

The Liberace Legacy

As a child of seven, Liberace received a scholarship to the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where he was a serious student of classical music. For the next 17 years, scholarships would play a crucial role in the continuing musical education of a man who would become one of the worlds’s most famous and successful entertainers. Without this critical support in the early years of his artistic development, Liberace might never have achieved the phenomenal success he enjoyed during his career.

Once he had attained international fame as pianist and showman, Liberace used this position to advance the performing and creative arts. He performed with major symphonies from the London Philharmonic to the Boston Pops. His music entertained and introduced audiences the world over to both classical and popular music, and he used his famous stage and television shows as a launching pad for the careers of other talented individuals, including opera singers from the Metropolitan, dancers from famed ballet companies, and noted set and costume designers.

Liberace never forgot his debt to scholarships. The talent and good fortune responsible for his success during his lifetime, today continues to ensure that hundreds of other gifted young people benefit, as he did in his early days, from such a gift. The Milwaukee Conservatory, today known as The Wisconsin Conservatory of Music, was among the first beneficiaries of the non-profit Foundation.

Liberace truly loved the arts and did all he could to bring their appreciation to the world. It is only appropriate that the Foundation that bears his name continues the dream of supporting the arts. To date, the Liberace Foundation for the Performing and Creative Arts has provided over $5 million in scholarship grants to more than 2200 students at 110 colleges and universities.

The Liberace Scholarship Fund

Program Guidelines
The purpose of the fund is to provide grants to accredited colleges and universities that offer degrees in the performing and creative arts. These grants are to be used exclusively for scholarship assistance to talented and deserving students.

Types of Institutions Funded
Institutions that offer degrees in the Arts: Colleges, Universities, Conservatories.

Programs Funded
Only Creative and Performance Based Arts Disciplines such as Music, Theater, Dance, and the Visual Arts.

Funding Guidelines

• The institution must be accredited.
• The institution must have a minimum of 40 majors in the specific grant-seeking discipline.
• All grants must be used for scholarships for tuition only. Institutional matches may be applied to fees, housing, etc., only after tuition is fulfilled.
• Matching fund commitments by the institution are an important factor in the funding decision.
• No funding for bricks and mortar, equipment, travel, supplies, or other materials.
• The individual institution selects the scholarship recipients. Recipients should be promising and deserving upperclassmen (Jr., Sr., Grad) enrolled in a course of study leading to a career in the arts. The adjudication process should be based on merit. Selection can be made by any reasonable means: i.e. faculty nomination, ensemble audition, or other forms of competition. The chief executive officer of the department or school should participate in the selection of the award recipient. The adequacy of the selection process is an important part of the funding decision by the Foundation, and should be fully described in the application.
• No direct-to-student grants are made.
• Applications must be received by the Grants Coordinator of the Foundation by March 15th each year.
• The awards will be announced at the end of the academic year and funded at the beginning of the new academic year.
• The institution will keep the Foundation apprised of the progress of the Liberace Scholar(s). The institution should publicize the awarding of their prize to their student, and should send copies of all related press releases and press notices to the Foundation. The selected recipient(s) should submit a brief profile after the award is granted.
• This is an honor award. The student is to be known as a "Liberace Scholar" in their biographical information.
• Funding is made on an annual basis only. Multi-year applications will not be accepted. However, a special priority will be placed on applications featuring continuing Liberace Scholars. Every institution must apply each year.