Beyoncé gives Montgomery native $20K jewelry industry scholarship

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (WSFA) - A Montgomery native has been selected by Beyoncé for a jewelry industry scholarship.

Audriana Osborne, of Montgomery, was one of just three people recently awarded the $20,000 Beyoncé Knowles-Carter x Lorraine Schwartz GIA Scholarship.

“I’m so full of gratitude. I’m honored, and I’m so excited for the opportunity,” Osborne said through a video announcing the three winners.

“I was impressed with their passion and the knowledge of gems that so many applicants displayed,” added Beyonce, who selected each of the scholarship recipients. “I am praying that this is just the beginning of opening more doors to diversity and raw inspiration in the jewelry industry.”

Thanks to the scholarship, Osborne will be able to pay for tuition, fees, equipment and travel and other expenses for on-campus lab classes, according to the Gemological Institute of America.

According to GIA, jewelry designer Lorraine Schwartz teamed up with the mega-star singer to create the scholarship, which goes to three members of the Black community for full tuition to earn GIA’s Graduate Gemologist diploma through distance education.

“Her work for the Black community is without limit and her efforts have inspired me and made me extremely proud to be her friend and partner on this initiative,” Schwartz said of Beyoncé.

Osborne said she hopes to use the knowledge that she has now and her current career with a career in the jewelry industry, and according to GIA, the scholarship will help her fulfill her ambitions.

“The hope for me is to absolutely learn all I possibly can and fuse the knowledge I have now and the career I have now with a career in the jewelry industry,” she added. “Having that space to blend that creativity and using the power of the law to fuse that into a really just religious, new, innovative and avant-garde career.”

Osborne also said she hopes the opportunity will help the next person coming in to enter it.

“And, most importantly, to be able to reach back, show that we are in this field and to help the next person coming along to enter it and to be able to be blessed with an opportunity just like I was today; to be able to get into this industry and go even forward and carry the torch,” Osborne added.

Shelton Bradford of Lake Forest, California, and Kulla Jatani, of Seattle were also named winners of the scholarship.