Application Open: The Willa Kim Costume Design Scholarship

Theatre Communications Group (TCG) is now accepting applications for its 2026 round of the Willa Kim Costume Design Scholarship, offering emerging designers a significant opportunity to advance their craft by receiving financial support for tuition, supplies, travel, and registration expenses.

The scholarship will award two recipients up to US $7,500 each to be used during the scholarship period, from June 1, 2026 through May 31, 2027.

Applicants must be enrolled and in good standing at a college, university, or professional training program as of June 1, 2026. Programs in related fields such as fashion design will be considered, provided the applicant can demonstrate a committed interest in working as a costume designer.

Key Dates

  •  Application Deadline: Friday, November 21, 2025 at 10:59 p.m. ET
  • Information Session: Wednesday, October 29, 2025 at 4 p.m. ET (via Zoom) — RSVP required.

Apply Now

About Willa Kim

Willa Kim was a costume designer for ballet, theatre, opera, and television. Among many honors were Tony Awards for Duke Ellington’s Sophisticated Ladies and Tommy Tune’s The Will Rogers Follies, and Tony nominations for Peter Allen’s Legs Diamond, Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Song & Dance, Bob Fosse’s Dancin’, and Joel Grey’s Goodtime Charley. She won Drama Desk Awards for Jean Genet’s The Screens, Irene Fornes’ Promenade, and Sam Shepard’s Operation Sidewinder; Obie Awards for Robert Lowell’s The Old Glory and Lanie Robertson’s Woman Before A Glass; and Emmy Awards for the PBS broadcasts of Michael Smuin’s ballets The Tempest and A Song For Dead Warriors.

Ms. Kim received lifetime achievement awards from the Fashion Institute of Technology and the United States Institute for Theatre Technology. The Theatre Development Fund honored her with the Irene Sharaff Lifetime Achievement Award, and in 2007 she was inducted into the Theatre Hall of Fame.