• The Creative Entrepreneurship Merit Awards recognize undergraduate students with a passion for Creative Entrepreneurship and allows them to compete for a spot to attend the Student Creatives and Artists Learning Entrepreneurship (SCALE) conference at Millikin University in Decatur, Illinois, February 27-28, 2026. This Award is presented by the Creative Entrepreneurship Area with funds from the Ratcliffe Center for Creative Entrepreneurship.

Think you’re a great candidate? Students who have taken at least one Creative Entrepreneurship course, and who can demonstrate a bridge between a personal creative practice and an entrepreneurial mindset are encouraged to apply! This award is open to all undergraduate students, including international students. Prior recipients are not eligible to apply.

Apply Here

The Merit Award recipients will receive: 

  • Ground transportation to and from airports

  • Round trip coach airfare

  • Double-occupancy hotel accommodation

  • Meals

  • Conference Registration fees

Important Dates & Deadlines

Application Opens - Wednesday, December 3, 2025 APPLY

Application Deadline- Sunday, January 11, 2026

Award Notification - January 16, 2026

The SCALE conference will be February 27 & 28, 2026 at Millikin University in Decatur, Illinois

  • Undergraduate students from ANY MAJOR meeting the following criteria may apply:

    • Students must be undergraduates

    • Students must be enrolled in, or have completed, at least one MICA Creative Entrepreneurship course 

    • Students in the First Year Fellows program are eligible

    • Students must have a 3.0 GPA or greater at the time of application

    • Students are or who will be enrolled for 12 credits or more at MICA during the Spring 2026 semester

    • Students are or who will be 18 years of age or older by February 1, 2026

    • Open to international students as well

  • The Merit Award recipients will receive: 

    • Ground transportation to and from airports

    • Round trip coach airfare

    • Conference Registration and fees

    • Double-occupancy hotel accommodation

    • Meals

What to Submit?

Required: An essay of 1,000 to 2,000 words reflecting on the following prompts:

  • Your vision and/or purpose that is currently informing you as a creative practitioner

  • The impact and/or contributions you want to make in the world as a creative practitioner

  • The ideas that are central to your current creative work

  • The ecological, social and/or cultural aspects you are exploring which are central to your current work

  • Some of the ways you are exploring creative entrepreneurship as related to your creative practice

  • The name of the MICA Creative Entrepreneurship course or courses you have taken.

    Note that members of the 2025-26 First Year Fellows program are eligible.  


Required: 1- 3 examples work samples from one or more MICA Creative Entrepreneurship course(s)

  • Additional Work Samples 

    • Submit a min of (4) and max of (6) examples of your best MICA coursework from the list below:

    • 1- 3 examples from a MICA course outside Creative Entrepreneurship 

    • 1- 2 examples from a commission or client-based project outside MICA

    • 1 example may be from an internship

    • 1 group project may be included which includes the names of all of the group members and the role and contributions of the student submitting the work.

    • 1 research paper done for a Humanistic Studies, theory, or methods class.

Each work example must include: 

  • Files Saved with Last Name_First Name_Name of Work_2026 Merit Award App

  • A word document with a lists 

    • Names of the work samples that corresponds to the uploaded work samples

    • The semester and year, course name, and faculty name 

    • Details on the assignment(s) and/or project(s) 

    • An explanatory note on how you addressed the assignment(s) and/or project(s)

    • Team members names, if applicable

    • The medium and dimensions

    • Work done as part of a series may be included as one work (e.g., a single  assignment that has a solution presented on three boards).

2025 Merit Award winners and Creative Entrepreneurship faculty

“ Some of my favorite sessions were the plenaries/keynotes and the more personal sessions regarding pitching, brand narratives, and the journeys that experienced creative entrepreneurs have gone through. The keynotes were heavily encouraging to artists, discussing how it’s okay to have a day job, have multiple streams of income, how to still create artwork within these multiple streams of income. It helped me understand the importance of being an artist, the work we have to put in to build trust in artists, and how successful artists can be as entrepreneurs.”

- Ein Tolentino ‘28

Submitting Your Application

Submission site: Startup Tree

  • All submissions must be digital

  • Scans of two dimensional works saved as PDF only

  • Short videos of three dimensional works – maximum 1 minutes, submitted as links to a private YouTube site or Vimeo with passwords as needed  

  • Time-based works such as film, video, animation etc, will be submitted as links to a private YouTube site or Vimeo with passwords as needed

  • No in-person presentations are allowed.  

Pre-Submission Review: 

Students are encouraged to review and discuss their submissions with their advisor and/or faculty members before submission.  

Evaluations:

Applications will be evaluated by MICA faculty and RCCE staff

  • The evaluation process is closed and confidential 

  • No feedback will be given to participants

  • Merit Award recipients will confirm participation in the SCALE conference via email no later than Monday, January 19, 2026 at Noon. Merit Awardees will travel as a group to and from the SCALE Conference. Students will attend all conference sessions and participate in conference activities. Award recipients will also take notes and commemorate their experiences throughout the conference. They will share their experiences with MICA and RCCE in writing, photos, blog and/or social media posts.

  • Each award recipient will make a 10-15 minute presentation on their experience to the MICA community during the month of March or April of 2026, on a date yet to be determined. Awardees will also write a 1,000 - 2,000 word summary and share at least four photos of their experiences to be included in RCCE newsletters, blogs and other internal and external outlets.

For more information, please feel free to contact Stephen Rueff by email SRueff@mica.edu

Photo from SCALE 2025 in St. Louis, MO

  • Student Creatives & Artist Learning Entrepreneurship (SCALE) is a conference designed to help student creatives and artists learn the skills and knowledge they need to launch and manage successful entrepreneurial careers. Click Here for more info!

  • The conference will be February 27 & 28, 2026 at Millikin University in Decatur, Illinois.

  • You will hear from speakers and panelists who are experts in their field on a range of topics. The 2026 SCALE conference’s theme is Risilient & Ready: Entrepreneurship for the Next Generation of Artists"

    You will also have an amazing time networking with likeminded students and building community.