Easton – The Talbot County Arts Council is awarding full tuition-paid summer arts scholarships to six Talbot County students who have just completed grades 9 through 12. This program provides grants for advanced art studies during summer 2020 to students with outstanding artistic promise. It is named in honor of the late Willard A. Lockwood, longtime president of the Arts Council, under whose guidance it was developed.
The scholarships are talent-based, not need-based, with the amount of support requested from the Arts Council to be matched dollar-for-dollar from other sources. Based on the financial challenges students and families are facing this year, the summer arts scholarship selection committee, Amy Steward, Janet Adams, and Karla Wieland-Cherry recommended that the Board forgo the match requirement for this summer’s program. The students were outstanding, their recommendations were excellent and the Council wanted to be sure there would not be any financial obstacles to their accepting the scholarship opportunity.
Recipients of this year’s Arts Scholarships are:
Amanda Dolle, a student at Easton High School, for private music lessons on clarinet and piano. According to Amanda, “Music is my happy place in life and creating music is one of my ways to relax.” Amanda’s reference, Maura Thompson, Director of Bands at Easton High School, wrote, “Amanda is an excellent asset to any music program as she is persistent and has an admirable work ethic… displays leadership ability in that she is willing to put herself in front of a crowd and try something new.”
Bradley Duley, a student at St. Michaels Middle High School, enthusiastically described, “Dance is a great form of expression and I think these classes would greatly contribute to my artistic development, now and in the future!” Nominated “for his talents as an academic, musical, theatrical and compassionate leader in school” by Daniel Smith, teacher, Social Studies and Theater Department Chair, Bradley will use his scholarship for private choreography lessons with Erinne Lewis, award-winning choreographer/dancer based in Easton.
Kelvin Montoya, a student at St. Michaels Middle High School, was nominated by teacher Amy Effler. In her reference, she noted his natural aptitude for the performing arts and strong stage presence. Kelvin wrote in his application, “I feel I should expand my artistic education and learn to master the guitar because it would open opportunities to more future possibilities.” Kelvin will take guitar lessons at Mike Elzey’s Guitar Studio over the summer.
Madeline Morrell, a student at Easton High School, is an outstanding student and gifted young artist, interested in pursuing a career in art. “I have painted for as long as I can remember. Art is my creative outlet and it is something I never want to stop exploring.” Matt Ghrist, her teacher explained, “Maddie has experimented with new, unfamiliar art mediums in her advanced art class. These challenges were met with perseverance, creativity, and success.” She will be applying her scholarship for a “One on One” painting experience with Susan Horsey.
Elisabeth Snapp, a student at Sts. Peter and Paul High School, explained, “…painting and drawing have given me the ability to express myself while also being able to move other people intellectually or emotionally.” Jacqueline Gosselin, Fine Arts Chair, Sts. Peter and Paul, wrote, “Elisabeth is truly gifted with the ability to render anything she sees and does it with amazing detail.” Elisabeth scholarship will be applied to her enrollment in an online pre-college figure painting program at Pacific Northwest College of Art.
Mara Stoyanov, a student at Easton High School, is flexible, quickly adjusting her plans to pursue harp lessons rather than attending flute camp at Westminster Conservatory, Princeton. She explained, “Musicianship is all about flexibility “and wrote about her need to continue to be flexible and make good choices about the direction of her musical career. Mara performed under the direction of Kennedy Center Principal Harpist, Rebecca A. Smith, and they collaborated on virtual recital music for a recent program. Mara will continue her private lessons with Kay Lister, harpist, instructor, and a former student of Smith.
Funding is provided by grants to the Arts Council from Talbot County, the towns of Easton, Oxford and St. Michaels. For additional information regarding the Talbot County Arts Council, contact Joan Levy, Executive Director, 410-245-5195 or email jlevy@talbotarts.org.
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~ Talbot County Arts Council