Annual awards given to talented Valley residents
By DANA DUGAN
Photo credit: Sun Valley Center for the Arts
The Sun Valley Center for the Arts is a place where magic happens, from art and humanities, to live music and film. It also hosts an enormous four-day wine auction each summer and a top-rated arts and crafts festival.
As well, since 1998, it has awarded a total of $932,397 to local students through its Arts and Humanities Scholarship program, made possible by funds raised through the annual wine auction. The program provides monetary awards to local students and educators to help advance their education and experience in the arts. The total amount awarded in 2019 is $44,000.
The scholarship program is an important part of The Center’s mission of enriching the education of students and educators through transformational arts experiences. A private reception to honor this year’s scholarship winners was held at The Center’s Ketchum location on Tuesday, April 9.
“To date, The Center has given nearly $1 million in scholarships to local students and educators,” said Sarah Stavros, education associate at the Sun Valley Center for the Arts. “Every year I am always blown away by the generosity of our donors. It’s amazing to see how this money transforms students’ lives and how thankful the students are for these amazing opportunities.”
The 28 scholarships awarded by The Center fall into five different categories, each of which allows Wood River Valley students and educators to expand their education in the arts and humanities.
Winner of the Jack Thornton Memorial Scholarship is Emma Pulleiro, a junior at Wood River High School who will participate in the Boston Conservatory Opera Intensive in Valencia, Spain, this summer. This $3,000 scholarship is awarded to an 11th- or 12th-grade student who has demonstrated their passion for the study of performing arts.
The renewable Gaye V. Weake scholarship of $2,000 per year was awarded to Elva Chen, a Wood River High School senior who plans to study design at Rhode Island School of Design, University of Southern California, University of Washington or UCLA. The scholarship is awarded annually to a high school senior or full-time college student majoring in the arts or humanities, to be applied toward tuition at an accredited college or university.
Students from previous years who will receive renewed scholarships are Jorgen Lawrence, a 2018 graduate; Lemuel Reagan, a 2017 graduate; Pierson Carlsen, a 2016 graduate; Ashlie Pulleiro, a 2015 graduate; and Haylee Pettit, a 2015 graduate.
The Ezra Pound Scholarship, worth $5,000, is awarded to a high school junior to pursue advanced study in the visual arts during the summer between junior and senior year. The 2019 winner is Geneva Dupuis, a Wood River High School junior who will study painting and drawing at the San Francisco Art Institute.
Multiple high school Arts & Humanities scholarships of up to $2,500 is given to students currently enrolled in high school to further their formal studies in the arts and humanities outside of regular school hours. The 2019 winners are Ben Anderson, Leyla Ba, Gabe Delgado, Paige DeShields, Daniel Durand, Britta Heaphy, Ethan Hunt, Jennifer Jordan, Murphy Kendall, Luke Mauldin, Adri Meyer, Julia Ott, Daniel Pearson, David Taylor, Elias Trevino, Ivan Varela, Samantha White, and Sharom Yallico.
The Wendy and Alan Pesky Educator Scholarship, of $1,200, is awarded to K-12 educators to support formal professional development in visual arts, performing arts or humanities. This year, the teachers awarded are Amanda Palan of Syringa Mountain School and Kimber Traue of Bellevue Elementary School.