The Women’s Jewelry Association had to raise the bar quite high to surpass the award and grant monies awarded last year. So for 2013, it’s giving out $46,000 in total scholarships and grants. 

WJA, which is in its 30th year of service, awarded $30,000 in scholarships to 11 recipients as well as $11,000 in grant monies (given primarily in increments of $500). 

In addition, the association announced its first winner of the inaugural $5,000 Carelle-WJA Grant, offered in honor of Brooke Tivol McGrath. Tivol McGrath comes from a family in the jewelry industry, worked for New York City-based Carelle, and was just 28 when she died from a rare blood infection. A $5,000 merit-based scholarship was established in her honor to aid fledgling jewelry businesses. 

Last year, the association’s awards totaled $32,000.

WJA raises most of its scholarship monies through the silent auction held each year at the WJA Awards for Excellence Gala, slated to occur on July 29, 2013, at Pier 60 on the Chelsea Piers in New York City. To purchase tickets, click here.

Other standout awards given this year include the Marilyn DaSilva Fund, the Joanna Gollberg Scholarship Fund, the Myra Goldstein Scholarship Fund. The entire list of 2013–2014 WJA Scholarship recipients (as well as the Carelle-WJA grant winner) is below.

• Carelle-WJA Grant of $5,000 in honor of Brooke Tivol McGrath to Lisa Kim, director of Crown & Nadir in Los Angeles
• June Herman Award of $5,500 to Rachel Arday of the Rochester Institute of Technology
• Myra Goldstein Award of $4,250 to Eunhwa Son of the University of Kansas
• Marilyn DaSilva Award of $3,250 to Megan Nevil of the Rochester Institute of Technology
• $2,500 to Mengxuan Liu of the Academy of Art in San Francisco
• $2,000 to Bethany Wood of Texas Tech University
• $1,750 to Sunyoung Cheong of the University of Kansas
• $1,750 to Carla Caballo of the Savannah College of Art and Design
• $2,500 to Li Huang of the Savannah College of Art and Design
• $1,500 to Elizabeth Bailey Christenbury of the Savannah College of Art and Design
• $2,500 to Ashley Chan of the Gemological Institute of America, N.Y.
• $2,500 to Alana Hess of the Gemological Institute of America, Calif.

For information about future WJA Scholarship and grant opportunities, click here.

JCK