Saturday, May 26, 2012

PRESS RELEASE: VAAE Student Scholarship Winners

The board of directors of the Vermont Alliance for Arts Education, which dissolved at the end of 2011, authorized disbursement of some of the funds remaining in the Alliance’s account for Scholarship recipients in 2012 before it voted to dissolve. Thus, the selection of recipients and awarding of scholarships was able to go ahead for this year.

ImageThe Vermont Alliance for Arts Education has selected four Vermont high school seniors to receive $500 college scholarships for artistic achievement. The scholarship recipients are:  Elizabeth Benton, Brattleboro Union High School; Sarah Gray, Springfield High School; Robin McLaughlin, Essex High School; and Sarah Ashby, Bellows Free Academy St. Albans.

“We had a relatively small, but excellent pool of applicants this year,” said Walter Judge, a director at the law firm Downs Rachlin Martin PLLC, who served on the board of VAAE.  “We are pleased to be able to recognize the hard work and achievements of these talented students by awarding arts scholarships to help defray college expenses.”

Image“Invaluable assistance was provided by the Vermont Student Assistance Corporation (VSAC) to publicize the scholarships to students throughout Vermont and to coordinate the application process,” said Judge, “and by  the judges  – Glory D. Reinstein, Music Teacher, Essex High School; Melinda Johns of Burlington City Arts; Gillian Klein, a professional artist; and Sara Katz of Burlington City Arts – who assisted me in thoughtfully reviewing each application and selecting the winners.” 

ElizabethBenton (above left )
Benton will attend the Massachusetts College of Art this fall.  The judging panel was impressed by her varied sculptural, visual, and photographic works, and the fact that she has held a job and has had demanding commitments outside of school.

Image Sarah Gray (above right)
Gray will attend the University of Vermont this fall.  Her inspired works of detailed and colorful visual art caught the panel’s attention, as well as the fact that she is ranked first in her class at school.

ImageRobin McLaughlin (left)
McLaughlin will attend Houghton College in upstate New York this fall.  The panel noted McLaughlin’s competence in musical performance and composition, her outstanding academics, and her commitment to music education as a career.

Sarah Ashby (right)
Ashby will attend the Massachusetts College of Art this fall. The panel was impressed by Ashby’s photography and her entrepreneurial spirit.