Two local artists will have the experience of a lifetime this summer after winning scholarships to Red Deer College’s Summerscapes workshop.
Since 1999, local artist Joan Sherman has sponsored trips to the workshop for over 50 young high school students, all of them artists eager to develop their craft.
Held in August, the workshop allows students to work with and learn from successful artists as they explore drawing, painting, sculpture, printmaking and other forms of expression.
The scholarships cover tuition, food, lodging, supplies and everything else the attendees need; the total cost is around $475 for each student.
This is the last year Sherman will be offering the scholarships personally (though she hopes a community group will pick up the banner going forward) and she proudly awarded them to a pair of Edwin Parr Composite students; Kistin Supernault and MacKenzie Kasprow.
Sherman made the presentation during an art class at EPC last week, surprising the lucky winners as proud teacher Barb Burns looked on.
“It’s opening doors for these students,” said Burns of the opportunities afforded by Summerscapes.
The scholarship winners were elated to learn that they had been chosen.
“I can’t really believe that I got it,” said Kasprow.
“I’m excited for the experience and to work with other people and artists that are the same age as me,” offered Supernault.
Sherman and the judges who determine the winners were impressed with the submissions from both Supernault and Kasprow.
“You get an intuitive feeling that they would do really well (at the workshop),” she said of choosing the winners.
Sherman herself has been proud to see the difference the trips to Summerscapes have made for the students she has sent there over the years.
“Many participants who previously had no plans for continuing education then went on to attend Red Deer College, art colleges, or technical schools for their higher education,” noted Sherman. “Summerscapes is a safe place for students to learn about, and gain confidence in, themselves. It introduces teens to a range of ideas, and challenges them to think and explore in a broader context. I am fortunate to be able to offer them this opportunity.”
