website: http://www.calarts.edu/

Through three generations of involvement, the Wasserman family has played an important role in the history of CalArts. In 1977, six years after the Institute graduated its first class, Edie Wasserman made her first scholarship gift to CalArts, and in 1978 she joined the Board of Trustees, serving for nine years. In 1980, the Lew and Edie Wasserman Scholarship Fund was established with an initial gift that was the largest single endowed scholarship gift in CalArts history at that time.

The Wasserman Foundation’s contribution establishing this Fund was extraordinary for its foresight as well as its faith in the future of CalArts. At the time, CalArts was young and had yet to grow into its present day stature as the nation’s leading laboratory for the arts. By establishing an endowment of significant scale, the Wassermans’ generosity and tradition of giving has helped students in each of the Institute’s schools—Art, Music, Dance, Film/Video, Theater, and Critical Studies—to take major strides toward their artistic goals.

Since 1977, the Fund has provided critical scholarship support for middle-income students at CalArts, supporting 617 students, all of whom CalArts was able to enroll and retain in large part because Wasserman Scholarships could be offered to them. Among the past Wasserman Scholars are such notable alumni as graphic designers Sean Adams and Noreen Morioka (AdamsMorioka, Inc.); actor Don Cheadle (Ocean’s Eleven, Traffic, Hotel Rwanda); animators Steve Hillenburg (SpongeBob SquarePants) and Ralph Eggelston (Academy Award™ winner); visual artists Catherine Opie and Sam Durant, who both participated in the 2004 Whitney Biennial; and choreographer Dawn Stoppiello, founder of the dance theater company Troika Ranch.

For information on how to become a Wasserman Scholar, you must contact the school’s admissions office directly.