In partnership with the Michigan Architectural Foundation, AIA Grand Rapids has selected two Emerging Professionals as Recipients to receive its annual Student Scholarship to assist in continuing their Architectural Educations.
Brittany Bardman and Madison Morris have both been named as 2025 AIA Grand Rapids Scholarship Recipients.
Scholarship Winners exhibited impressive academic achievement, outstanding leadership skills, strong commitment to architecture, and exemplary community involvement. These were the jury’s reasons regarding their selections for this year’s scholarships.
The students that apply for these scholarships demonstrate a passion for the profession, as well as a commitment to design, leadership, and community involvement. These awards recognize students for their hard work and also provide support for the escalating cost of architectural education. A total of 46 scholarship applications were received this year. The 2025 scholarship recipients were recognized at a ceremony held earlier this year at the offices of Albert Kahn Associates located in Detroit’s historic Fisher Building.
An AIA Grand Rapids Graduate Scholarship in the amount of $2,000 was awarded to Brittany Bardman, a graduate student at Kendall College of Art and Design of Ferris State University. Her work explores how architecture can foster connection—between people, place, and the natural world—through thoughtful attention to material, climate, and lived experience. She is particularly interested in how design can respond to context while also challenging assumptions about how we gather, move, and inhabit space. Grateful for the support of the 2025 AIA Grand Rapids Graduate Student Scholarship, Britt looks forward to deepening her engagement with the architectural community in West Michigan and beyond. Reflecting on her academic and professional journey thus far, Britt shares, “I’m drawn to architecture for its dual capacity to respond and to provoke—to engage with the realities of a place while opening space for reflection and more honest ways of being together.”
An AIA Grand Rapids Graduate Scholarship in the amount of $2,000 was awarded to Madison Morris, a graduate student at Lawrence Technological University. Madison also completed her Bachelor of Science in Architecture at LTU while competing as a scholarship athlete on the university’s volleyball team. This past summer, Madison worked as an architectural intern at GMB’s Grand Rapids office, where she contributed to impactful educational projects within her community. Reflecting on her path, she shares, “I chose to pursue architecture because of its capacity to create and inspire positive change”. She is honored to receive the AIA Grand Rapids Graduate Scholarship, which supports her continued studies and her goal of designing architecture that is environmentally conscious, equitable, and community-focused.
Additional fundraising for these Scholarships is earned from the annual AIAGR Golf Outing, which took place on June 18th at Saskatoon Golf Club. On behalf of AIA Grand Rapids, we would like to thank all our Sponsors, Colleagues, and Friends who joined us for our annual AIA Grand Rapids 2025 Golf Outing. Special thanks to our Event Sponsors: our Dinner Sponsors — Millies Engineering Group and Bradley | American Standard | Grohe, our Beverage Sponsors — Belden Architectural Elements, our Golf Cart Sponsors — Paradigm Design and ROI Design, our Snack at the Turn + Dessert Sponsor — EV Construction, our Closest to the Pin Sponsor — ABD Engineering & Design, our Get it on the Green Sponsor — Builders Exchange of Michigan, and our Countless Tee Sponsors.
Both Scholarship Recipients will also be honored and celebrated at the upcoming AIA Grand Rapids 2025 Honor Awards Celebration held on October 16th at GLC Live at 20 Monroe. Please plan to join us as we celebrate and honor Britt and Madison!