Failure Award Scholarship 2025

The Museum of Contemporary Art Denver is awarding a $20,000 college scholarship to a graduating high school senior who demonstrates innovation, creativity, fearlessness, and a willingness to risk failure in the pursuit of something new. The Failure Award Scholarship rewards a Colorado student who embraces the spirit of creative risk taking with scholarship dollars that can be used at any accredited, post-secondary institution or trade school towards educational expenses. While so much of student life is focused on achievement, MCA Denver believes that in order to create something original and authentic, it is necessary to risk failure. The Failure Award is given not on the basis of academic merit or athletic prowess, but rather on a student’s demonstration of a willingness to take these risks.

Applications are open from December 2, 2024 – February 28, 2025. To apply for the Failure Award Scholarship, students must create an account on The Denver Foundation scholarship portal, click "Apply" at the top of the page, and select "Universal Application 2025—Cycle 1.

The Failure Award Scholarship is supported by the Fries Foundation.

AWARD: $20,000

Apply by: February 28, 2025

Meet Josie Wilson, the 2024 Failure Award Scholarship recipient!

Josie Wilson is a graduating senior from North High School. Her project is called "Figurative Impacts of Mental Health".

Josie became interested in this project after admitting to her parents that she had been suffering with depression and anxiety following the aftermath of quarantine. She said she had been going about life pretending to be happy and outgoing while suffering in silence. The overall purpose of this project is to highlight and bring awareness to what those with mental illness go through constantly, with the majority of the time being in silence. Using ceramic art as her medium, she sculpted pieces, based on personal experiences and research. In her presentation, Josie discussed the potential internal and external failures. Internal being her having to relive some of these experiences in the midst of creating the project, and external being the potential judgment of others validating her already not so great feelings about herself and judgment of her art capabilities. She discussed wanting to quit the project several times and even not wanting to present for this scholarship just days before the event. In terms of risk, she discussed her vulnerability and having to reveal herself to those around her.

High school senior Josie Wilson holding a trophy in a theater.

High school senior Josie Wilson speaking into a microphone on a theater stage.

Learn about the 2023, 2022, and 2021 Failure Award Scholarship recipients!

On the blog: Meet Jessica Leal!! MCA Denver's 2023 Failure Award Scholarship Recipient

a photo of a young woman and her family. she is holding a crafted heart on a gold background called El Corazon

On the blog: Meet Soah Blake! MCA Denver's 2022 Failure Award Scholarship Recipient

Watch Soah's film, holding hands with the moon

On the blog: Meet Kaley Corinaldi! MCA Denver's 2021 Failure Scholarship Recipient

Hear Kaley's song, 17

LEARN MORE ABOUT THE SCHOLARSHIP

The Failure Award is based on documentation of a project the student created or produced while in high school that demonstrates originality and creativity. This can be a creative project, like a novel, a play, an opera; a technology-based project like a design for a new car, or a spaceship, or a robot; or something that falls outside of these criteria altogether. Some projects may present solutions to problems in the world, however, all projects will be considered, no matter how harebrained, impractical, or absurd.

After reviewing submitted projects, finalists will be selected to present their projects to a panel of judges on Saturday, April 26, 2025 at The Holiday Theater. Finalists will also be invited (and highly encouraged to attend) to rehearse their presentations and have dinner the night prior, on Friday, April 25, 2025. The winner will be announced after the presentations on Saturday, April 26.

ELIGIBILITY

Students who meet ALL of the criteria are eligible to apply:

Are a resident of and attend high school in Colorado
Will graduate from high school in the spring of 2025
Will attend an accredited, post-secondary institution or trade school in the fall of 2025
Are able to attend the Failure Award Scholarship Presentation on April 26, 2025

SELECTION

Applicants must submit documentation of a project, which they have undertaken and completed during their high school years, that demonstrates a higher level of creativity in the attempt to create something that is genuinely new. We are looking for projects that contain originality and authenticity. All types of projects will be considered, including, but not limited to: visual arts, drawing, painting, photography, sculpture, dance, theater, performing arts, instrument or voice composition, design, fashion, culinary arts, technology, gaming, robotics, business ventures, social innovation, or other creative practice. The project must be the original work of the applicant. Group projects will not be considered. Projects must be complete, and scholarship dollars cannot be directed towards completion of the project.

Finalists will be selected based on their project description and supporting documentation, their demonstration of creative risk-taking, and their presentation. If selected, students will present their project to a panel of judges, as well as to the visiting public, during the MCA Denver Failure Award Scholarship Presentation Event. Each student will be given up to ten minutes to present their work and then will answer questions from the panel. Participants will be evaluated on originality, innovation, and their ability to present a project within the theme of risking failure as an integral part of the creative process.

Finalists must be available to present their projects to a panel of judges at The Holiday Theater on Saturday, April 26, 2025.

Applicants who cannot present their work at the theater will not be eligible for this scholarship. Neither MCA Denver nor The Denver Foundation will reimburse for travel or lodging expenses.

Additional Language

The Failure Award Scholarship is part of the Denver Foundation's Universal Application this year - a common application process that has students fill out one eligibility test/application that will then direct them to all scholarships they are eligible for. For each scholarship they are eligible for, they must complete a supplemental portion directly related to that scholarship before the application is considered complete.

AWARD

The winner of the Failure Award Scholarship will receive a college scholarship in the amount of $20,000 to be distributed over four years in $5,000 increments. Scholarship awards will be paid directly to the recipient’s school and can be used towards tuition, fees, required books and supplies, room and board, and other qualified educational expenses. Award disbursement is contingent upon the financial aid and scholarship acceptance policies of a recipient’s school. Exceptions are made for students who have been accepted into a college but defer enrollment for one year (commonly referred to as a gap year)

QUESTIONS?

If you have specific questions about this application, please contact Melissa Rosscup at The Denver Foundation, mrosscup@denverfoundation.org.

If you have questions about the MCA Denver Failure Award Scholarship, please contact Christina Chambers at MCA Denver, christinac@mcadenver.org or call 303-298-7554.