Loeries scholarship to nurture grassroots creativity

The scholarship was created by The Loerie Awards in partnership with SABC Commercial Enterprises. The implementation of the scholarship was assisted by the Woolworths ‘Making the Difference through Design' (MTDTD) programme, which created the platform for the scholarship to reach out to potential candidates through the Woolworths MTDTD schools' network.

In this inaugural year the scholarship was awarded in KwaZulu-Natal, as this is where the Loerie Awards have been held for the past four years, and the Loeries wanted to extend its gratitude to the province that has been its home.

Tomorrow's creative minds

The full scholarship was awarded to Zwelisha Giampietri, a student at Durban Girls High School. The scholarship covers tuition costs at a tertiary institution, art materials, living expenses, mentorship, internships and employment at the end of the student's studies.

“Because the scholarship is targeted at disadvantaged students, we realised that for it to be meaningful, it had to cover all aspects of their education, not just the tuition fees,” said Andrew Human, managing director of The Loerie Awards.

Giampietri was awarded the scholarship after a gruelling elimination process. Over 100 schools were invited to participate and from the submissions received a shortlist was drawn up. Those students were invited to a selection day where their portfolios were reviewed; they were interviewed and set a three-hour creative challenge to assess their writing and drawing skills and creative thinking processes.

The judging panel comprised the Loeries' Human, David Mashabela, creative director at SABC, Greg Tregoning, school navigator at Vega, the Brand Communication School, and Suné Stassen, design consultant to the Woolworths ‘Making the Difference through Design' programme.

Giampietri emerged as the clear winner, but another student's talents also caught the eyes of the judging panel, so a second scholarship was created for Siyabonga Ntambela who attends the Phoenix Lenarea Secondary School so that he could take part in Vega's Imagination Lab - a one-year bridging course that teaches disadvantaged South Africans critical skills with an emphasis on creative communication and expression.

Partner

SABC Commercial Enterprises, which has a long-standing relationship with the Loeries dating back to the launch of the awards in 1978 to promote and develop television advertising, is now involved in promoting and developing creativity as part of their partnership. The SABC already sponsors the Loeries itself as well as the Loeries Travelling Exhibition, which journeys around South Africa and internationally, stopping at design schools and festivals along the way, with the aim of inspiring the creative talent of tomorrow.

The SABC therefore jumped at the opportunity to partner with the Loeries on a project that would take this influence to a broader audience. “We at the SABC embrace this scholarship as it encourages the development of new talent,” says Andrew Smythe, general manager of Radio Sales at the SABC. “We see this initiative as an outstanding opportunity to empower citizens at grassroots level, thereby preserving our national identity and heritage.”

The scholarship has the far-reaching impact of creating awareness of the creative industry as a career throughout South Africa. “We launched the programme in order to support, grow and develop the future skills required in the creative industry,” says Human.

“It's fantastic that part of the industry has realised that if they want to make a contribution and start growing the industry, they must start at grassroots level,” says Suné Stassen. “We don't have enough top quality designers in South Africa, and we need to nurture the talent out there.”

Like any good idea, the scholarship has attracted a wide range of interest from the industry. Grid Worldwide Branding and Design, who designed the 2007 Loeries campaign and annual, have extended their relationship to be involved in the design aspects of the scholarship campaign, as well as providing a donation of R80 000 towards the scholarship itself.

CSI

“We have a multi-pronged corporate social investment strategy, and we focus on communities, education, entrepreneurship, the environment and arts and culture, and we undertake projects in each of these focus areas,” says Ashantha Armogam, managing director of Grid Worldwide Branding and Design. “We're delighted that there's an opportunity to kill two birds with one stone - training young talent to contribute to the industry as well as contributing to the broader aims of education ourselves.”

Human agrees. “We feel that it's important to extend an understanding of the value of creativity to the far corners of the country, not only because it will allow us to enjoy the benefits of a fresh stream of talent into the industry, but also because we are giving talented individuals a chance that they wouldn't otherwise have had.”