The Koch Cultural Trust (originally the Kansas Cultural Trust) was created by Elizabeth Koch, wife of Charles Koch. It is a nonprofit that awards scholarships to students interested in careers in the performing or visual arts.
Background
Koch Cultural Trust grantees are supposed to “have a connection with Kansas” and are chosen by “a committee of Wichita arts leaders.” 1 In 2019, the trust awarded 32 grants of between $1,000 and $5,000. 2
The Koch Cultural Trust is funded by a grant from the Koch Family Foundation. 2
Recipients
Grantees include Anna Kimmel, who in 2014 was valedictorian of her class at Hutchinson High School and had already spent summers in three states taking dance classes. She planned to go to Princeton and major in economics and minor in dance. 3
Ernest Vincent Wood III, after winning a Koch Cultural Trust grant, subsequently had a painting that won second place in the Portrait Society of America’s International Portrait Competition. 4
References
- “Program Details,” Koch Cultural Trust, https://www.kochfamilyfoundation.org/koch-cultural-trust (accessed July 25, 2022)
- 2019 Koch Cultural Trust Form 990.
- Mary Clarkin, “Hutch High Senior Demonstrates Artful Turn,” Hutchinson (Kansas) News, May 4, 2014.
- “The Picture: Elevating the Arts,” press release from Koch Industries, November 21, 2021, https://news.kochind.com/news/2021/elevating-the-arts (accessed July 25, 2022)