Scholarship
HoLa Hora Latina offeres two scholarships honoring important figures of our organization to students local to East Tennessee.
The Astrid Galindo Student Arts Scholarship provides a stipend for 3 local student artists ages 12-21 that gather the most voters during the scholarship competition in May.
The Luis Velázquez Academic Scholarship offers local students of Latino descent that display a financial need and a high level of acadmic achievement.
Find more information about each scholarship, those which they honor, and opportunities to contribute to each scholarship fund below.
The Astrid Galindo Student Arts Scholarship and Competition
HoLa Hora Latina honors the legacy and artistic works of a dear friend and Mexican -American artist, Astrid Galindo, through our annual student arts competition and scholarship. Students present their works at the Casa HoLa gallery and visitors are invited to vote for their favorite artworks. The three students with the most votes receive a prize to pay for art materials.
In 1961-1962, Mrs. Galindo studied art in the Circulo de Bellas Artes of the Academy of Fine Arts (Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando) in Madrid, Spain. Later she joined the Mexican Foreign Service and served as a Consul for many years. Her career took her to several countries in Africa, Europe and Latin America. Her love for art encouraged her to continue her art work and she always kept in contact with artistic organizations and institutions. She joined independent artists’ groups and associations in Spain, Germany, Greece, Egypt, Algeria, Mexico, Venezuela and Cuba, and participated in joint exhibitions and private galleries in those countries. During her leisure travel, she enrolled in summer free art studies and creative workshops in museums and institutions like the Van Gogh’s Studio of the Institute for Cultural Heritage of The Netherlands, the Ateneo de Caracas, the Institute of Ancient Egyptian Art in Cairo, and the Instituto de Arte de La Habana in Havana Cuba.
In the United States she continued active in art since 1987. Having collaborated with the Albuquerque Museum Foundation in the organization of the exhibit MAYA Treasures of an Ancient Civilization. She also actively assisted in the conservation and care of folk art collections under the sponsorship of the International Folk Art Foundation (1989) of Santa Fe, New Mexico. During the 1990’s her artwork was exhibited in galleries of San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato and Queretaro in Mexico. In the 2000’s she joined the Arts and Culture Alliance of Knoxville, TN and became a member of HoLa Hora Latina. Astrid’s artwork has been exhibited in several group exhibits at the Emporium in Knoxville and at the Knoxville Museum of Art.
In 2014 she created a new movement in style called “astrological linearism ” and her two first artworks in this new style, Strawberry Energy and The Venus of Knoxville, were exhibited in group exhibitions at the Emporium and at the Knoxville Museum of Art. This style and avant-garde movement uses round, vertical, and horizontal lines which radiate from a celestial or cosmic body in the universe or galaxy to give energy and reproduce living forms, whether animals, plants or humans. Linearism reflects the energy from the sun and other celestial bodies. Her works have been described as “an autonomous expression of urban and natural surroundings mainly related to environmental activities”. She had a deep love for nature and saw cosmic and environmental developments with great interest. Her artwork reflects moral and aesthetic feelings as well as organic and fauna messages.





HoLa Hora Latina conmemora el legado y la obra artística de una muy querida amiga y artista mexicana-americana, Astrid Galindo, con el concurso y la beca artística anual para estudiantes. Los estudiantes presentan sus obras en la galería Casa HoLa y los visitantes están invitados a votar por sus obras favoritas. Los tres estudiantes que obtengan la mayoría de los votos reciben un premio para la compra de materiales de arte.
En 1961-1962, la Sra. Galindo estudiaba el arte en el Círculo de Bellas Artes en la Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando en Madrid, España. Luego, se unió al Servicio Exterior de México y sirvió como diplomática por muchos años. Su carrera la llevó a muchos países en África, Europa y América Latina. Su amor por el arte la motivó a seguir con sus obras y siempre mantuvo contacto con organizaciones e instituciones artísticas. Se unió a grupos y asociaciones de artistas independientes en España, Alemania, Grecia, Egipto, Argelia, México, Venezuela y Cuba y participó en exhibiciones colectivas y en galerías de arte privadas en estos países. Durante sus viajes de ocio, se inscribió en estudios de arte gratuitos, durante los veranos y en talleres creativos en museos e instituciones como el Instituto de Herencia Cultural de Holanda del Estudio de Van Gogh, el Ateneo de Caracas, el Instituto de Arte Egipcio Antiguo en Cairo, y en el Instituto de Arte de La Habana en Cuba.
En los Estados Unidos, continuó con su arte desde el 1987. La señora colaboró con la Fundación del Museo de Albuquerque en la organización de la exhibición MAYA: Tesoros de la Civilización Antigua. También ayudó con la conservación y el cuidado de colecciones de arte popular bajo la patrocinio de la Fundación de Arte Popular Internacional (1989) de Santa Fe, Nuevo México. Durante la década de los 90s, sus obras las exhibieron en las galerías de San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato y Querétaro en México. En la década del 2000, se unió en la Alianza de Artes y Culturas en Knoxville, Tennessee y se hizo miembro de HoLa Hora Latina. Las obras de la Sra. Galindo se han exhibido en varias exhibiciones colectivas en el Emporio para las Artes de Knoxville y en el Museo de Arte de Knoxville.
En 2014, inventó un nuevo movimiento de estilo llamado “linealismo astrológico” y las primeras dos obras en su nuevo estilo, Strawberry Energy and The Venus of Knoxville, fueron presentadas en exhibiciones colectivas en el Emporio para las Artes de Knoxville y en el Museo de Arte de Knoxville. Este estilo y movimiento de vanguardia utiliza líneas redondas, verticales y horizontales las cuales irradian de un cuerpo cósmico o celestial en el universo o la galaxia para dar energía y reproducir formas vivas, ya sean animales, plantas, o seres humanos. El linealismo refleja la energía del sol y de otros cuerpos celestiales. Se han descrito sus obras como, “una expresión autónoma de los entornos urbanos y naturales principalmente relacionados a las actividades ambientales”. Tuvo un amor muy profundo por la naturaleza y vió los desarrollos de su entorno con gran interés. Sus obras reflejan los sentimientos morales y estéticos además de mensajes orgánicos y de la fauna.
Contribute to the Astrid Galindo Scholarship Fund
Please use this link to make a contribution to the Astrid Galindo Scholarship Fund. Please indicate in the notes section that you are wishing to donate specifically to the Astrid Galindo Fund.
Por favor use este enlace para hacer una contribución al fondo para la Beca Artística Astrid Galindo. Por favor indique en la sección para notas que desea hacer una donación al fondo de Astrid Galindo espesíficamente.
The Luis Velázquez Scholarship

About Mr. Velázquez
A native of Arecibo, Puerto Rico, Luis Enrique Velázquez came to Knoxville to work as a Civil Engineer with the Department of Energy. As a Latino, he was interested in community building and immediately began to plan activities that would bring together the Latino community. The Department of Energy gave him a second responsibility as a minority recruiter and sponsored trips to Puerto Rico and to universities educating Latinos and now many of the Latinos employed by DOE are there through his efforts in recruitment.
After 25 years of service, he retired from DOE but could not sit still. A project sponsored by Knoxville Legal Aid gave him the opportunity to create a directory of Latino owned businesses throughout East Tennessee. A meeting of these business owners at the end of the project gave birth to the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of East Tennessee. He then became its first Director and CEO, a position he held for 10 years and only left when he was stricken by terminal cancer.
Luis graduated from Leadership Knoxville in 2006. His active role in the community gave him the opportunity to serve in many Boards and Committees. His belief that education was the key for the improvement of our community was recognized by the University of Tennessee who made him a Chancellor’s Associate. The scholarship on his name sponsored by Hola Hora Latina is an appropriate recognition and his family is very grateful and proud.
The next cycle of applications will be due on March 2nd, 2022. Please use the adjacent Scholarship Application link to access the necessary forms and email to Maria B. Clark, mbirgit@gmail.com.
Scholarhip Description
Purpose: The Luis Velázquez Scholarship Fund awards scholarships to college or university bound seniors of Latino descent based on demonstrated academic achievement and financial need.
Guidelines: For students attending a 2-year institution, a $750 scholarship will be awarded and disbursed over 2 years in uneven payments of $250 and $500. For students attending a 4-year institution, a $2,500 scholarship will be awarded and disbursed over 4 years in uneven payments of $250, $500, $750, $1000. Recipients must continue to attend classes and maintain a cumulative GPA no lower than 3.0. Students who suspend their studies or are suspended from the academic institution for any reason will have their scholarship revoked.
Criteria: Students eligible for the scholarship must be graduating High School seniors who reside in any of the following counties: Anderson, Blount, Grainger, Jefferson, Knox, Loudon, Sevier and meet the following criteria:
1. Latino descent (a person who traces origin to a country formerly colonized by Spain or Portugal). *Please clarify briefly if you were born in or are a first or second generation descendent of a person from Mexico, the Caribbean, Central- or South America.
2. Need of financial support as defined by FAFSA
3. GPA of 3.00 or better on a 4.00 scale
Application: Submission of the scholarship application package before the March 2, 2022 deadline. The deadline is the postmarked date after which applications will no longer be accepted.
Notification: All applicants will be notified of their status by Monday, April 15, 2022. Please direct any questions to Maria B. Clark, mbirgit@gmail.com
Contribute to the Luis Velázquez Scholarship Fund
Please use this link to make a contribution to the Luis Velázquez Scholarship Fund. Please indicate in the notes section that you are wishing to donate specifically to the Luis Velázquez Fund.
Por favor use este enlace para hacer una contribución al fondo para la Beca Académica Luis Velázquez. Por favor indique en la sección para notas que desea hacer una donación al fondo de Luis Velázquez espesíficamente.