Avon Arts Association Awards Scholarships to Three Farmington Valley Students

Three talented Farmington Valley students received a combined $3,500 in scholarships from the Avon Arts Association at a ceremony at Avon Town Hall on May 20.

Brenna Sullivan, a senior at Simsbury High School, Andrew Eckhardt, a senior at Avon High School and Shannon Jahrling, a senior at Farmington High School, each received awards from the Arts Association for their work; they were nominated by their art teachers and selected by members of the Association.

“This is a great moment when you have youth and just the joy of seeing some of their work,” Scholarship Chair Inez Faillace said. “I’m very happy to award these scholarships on behalf of the Avon Arts Association.”

Faillace said that after the three students showed their art at her house, she sat with the pieces and looked at them through “different eyes.”

“It was absolutely marvelous; I was just stunned,” said Faillace, noting that she was most impressed with the students’ depth of intention, their ability to articulate their personal creative processes and their maturity to control the various media with which they worked.

All three students, for their parts, were thrilled with their respective awards.

“I’m so excited to be going to school and it’s really nice to have the support not only financially but to know they really care,” said Jahrling, who earned a scholarship with a photo of her grandfather.

“It means the world, just to know somebody looks at your work and says, ‘She has something that’s worth looking at and something worth pursuing later in life,’” said Sullivan, whose clay sculpture earned her a scholarship. “It means that I’m going in the right direction.”

“It’s always nice to be recognized, especially nowadays because the arts tend to be forgotten,” Eckhardt, who won his scholarship with a figure drawing, said.

Eckhardt will attend the Massachusetts College of Art and Design in the fall, while Jahrling will attend the Art Institute of Chicago and Sullivan is headed to the University of Rhode Island.

The Avon Arts Association promotes visual art in the Avon, Connecticut area by holding art exhibits, demonstrations, and workshops, and by providing college scholarships for qualified high school art students. Membership is open to all persons who reside in Avon and surrounding areas.

 To help defray the cost of scholarships, the Association will host its 47th Annual Arts & Crafts Show on Sept. 20 and 21.

 Artists and craftsmen may reserve a space now by going to the organization’s website and downloading an application at www.avonarts.org. Click on the calendar tab. Applications should include three pictures of the artist's or craftsman's works to be juried. Entrants will be notified of their acceptance within four weeks after receipt of their application. If not accepted, fees will be refunded.

Proceeds from the sale of show spaces will be used to support college scholarships for qualified high school art students from the Farmington Valley (Avon, Canton, Farmington, Granby and Simsbury).

For more information, contact Mariann Weiss (Fall Art Show) at mariann1940@comcast.net or Inez Faillace (Scholarship Committee) at avonarts@hotmail.com.