Miller Arts Scholars
Miller Arts Scholars
Braelyn Schenk

Braelyn Schenk

Semester of Mini-grant
Year of Mini-grant
2017
Disciplines(s)
Grant Description
These past few years I’ve written and performed my music periodically and am feeling, more so than ever, the urgency and necessity to make my work more accessible and shareable with others. Though I have the makings of an EP, before initiating steps toward full-band, studio recordings, I would like to begin with two to three excellently recorded and filmed videos. With a few bare-bones music videos I can begin the journey of branding myself and garnering a following as I simultaneously work to release a four-song EP by Summer 2018. These spreadable tools will launch me into my next steps as a musician and as a well-rounded creative, outside of the direct context of UVA.
Original Proposal
Proposal Outcome
Title
The Branding of an Artist: Video Series
Year of Mini-grant
2015
Disciplines(s)
Grant Description
Braelyn will conduct a series of documented sound and movement­ based improvisations on her own. Later in the project outline, she plans to bring in an outside photographer/videographer to capture workshops, interviews etc.
Original Proposal
Proposal Outcome
Title
Apples & Oranges-Further enabling a project on the move
Year of Mini-grant
2015
Disciplines(s)
Grant Description
Braelyn will purchase portable recording equipment in order to capture interviews, soundscapes, and other environments.
Original Proposal
Proposal Outcome
Title
Braelyn will purchase portable recording equipment in order to capture interviews, soundscapes, and other environments.
Class Year
2018
Disciplines(s)
Arts Award Type
Proposal Outcome
Grant Description
I am interested in finding bridges between music and dance, exploring their capability to interpret physical and cultural landscapes, and through that, codifying a methodology that allows dancers and musicians to enter into a deeper understanding of their relationship to each other, to place, to physical spaces, and to the past.
Original Proposal
Title
Apples and Oranges
Class Year
2018
Disciplines(s)
Arts Award Type
Proposal Outcome
Grant Description
My proposed project centers on a high intensity, hands-on involvement with Cleveland, OH nonprofit, Fresh Camp. Fresh Camp and the Refresh Collective exists to enliven Cleveland through “creative arts, community engagement and youth development.” The camp uses project-based hip-hop-in-action programs to motivate, educate, and activate students in personal and community development. Students learn skills in digital music composition, lyric writing, recording arts, and public performance. The creative, song writing process allows students to express experiences, perspectives, problems and solutions. Founder Dee Jay Doc and his team listen carefully to what students are saying and help give them opportunities to create “fresh action” such as planting new neighborhood gardens, tasting fresh food, silk screening t-shirts, and writing songs that promote the neighborhood farmer's market. As an intern, I will have the privilege of working, learning and living in and through these efforts.
Original Proposal
Title
A Musical Journey: Nationally & Internationally

Braelyn Schenk; dancer, singer/songwriter, actor and the many other titles, activities and passions, loves and joys that make her human, have been cultivated in and around her since she was very young. Braelyn began dancing in her hometown of Cleveland, OH at the age of 3. Her ballet slippers and pink tutu soon became the expected wardrobe when attending speech and drama lessons. From the dance studio, to the drama classroom, to the family kitchen, where she most often tested her newest vocal and musical experiments, Braelyn and art became inseparable. Schooled at home through to her early high school years, her parents were able to help Braelyn pursue her passion for the performing arts and for the community it cultivates by taking full advantage of Cleveland's renowned orchestra, theatre district, and countless artist collectives. The city of Cleveland and all that it offers, became one of her expansive classrooms. When Braelyn moved to Charlottesville in 2011, she attended public high school for the first time where her customized education, her passion for art and early training paid off. Braelyn's high school drama teacher was an impressive catalyst as she sought to use theatre to further her students, the school and greater community of Charlottesville.  In this, Braelyn saw the merging of all she held dear; excellent artistry, community building, and social uplift. By involving herself in every level of her high school's theatre department, Braelyn gained more experience in acting, singing, dancing, choreographing and community building. These activities, passions, loves and joys have only been magnified by her first year at UVA as she continues to sing, dance and act for the greater good of her community.

2018