Jack Kent Cooke Foundation Announces 2011 Inaugural Graduate Arts Awards

News Release

 
August 10, 2011
Media Contact: Dana O’Neill
Jack Kent Cooke Foundation
44325 Woodridge Parkway
Lansdowne, VA 20176
(703) 723-8000, doneill@jkcf.org
 
 
Inaugural Graduate Arts Award Recipients Announced by
Jack Kent Cooke Foundation
 
First Class Composed of Sculptors, Painters, Filmmakers, Writers
 
Lansdowne, VA – A sculptor, a singer, and a natural history filmmaker are among the aspiring artists who received the first Jack Kent Cook Foundation Graduate Arts Awards this week. The awards, which are worth up to $50,000 per year for up to three years of study at an accredited graduate school in the US or abroad, are aimed at high-achieving, low-income students.
 
“We wanted to remove much of the financial risk of getting advanced, formal training in the arts for these Scholars,” said Lawrence Kutner, Ph.D., the executive director of the Foundation.
 
The ten recipients range in age from 22 to 34 and come from nine states. Their interests range from creative writing to theater to Irish music.
 
The Jack Kent Cooke Graduate Arts Award provides funding for tuition, room and board, required fees, and books.  Scholarship amounts vary based on several factors, including costs at the institution each recipient attends and other grants and scholarships the student receives. 
 
The 2011 Graduate Arts Award Recipients Are:
 
Sheyenne Brown, Bronx, NY
Undergraduate College or University: Middlebury College
Graduate Institution: Columbia University
Academic/Career Pursuits: Theater Performance
 
Don Edler, Miami, FL
Undergraduate College or University: University of Florida
Graduate Institution: City University of New York, Hunter College
Academic/Career Pursuits: Sculpture and New Media
 
Brian Ezell, Smyrna, DE
Undergraduate College or University: University of Delaware
Graduate Institution: University of Delaware
Academic/Career Pursuits: Vocal Performance
 
David Hawkins, Reno, NV
Undergraduate College of University: Brigham Young University
Graduate Institution: New York University
Academic/Career Pursuits: Sculpture
 
Joanna Hyde, Denver, CO
Undergraduate College or University: Colorado College
Graduate Institution: University of Limerick
Academic/Career Pursuits: Irish Traditional Music Performance
 
Ben Langston, State College, PA
Undergraduate College or University: University of Missouri-Columbia
Graduate Institution: Vermont College of Fine Arts
Academic/Career Pursuits: Creative Writing
 
Christopher Olsen, St. Louis, MO
Undergraduate College or University: University of Missouri-Columbia
Graduate Institution: TBD
Academic/Career Pursuits: Creative Writing
 
Ingrid Pfau, Birmingham, AL
Undergraduate College or University: University of Alabama at Birmingham
Graduate Institution: Montana State University-Bozeman
Academic/Career Pursuits: Science and Natural History Filmmaking
 
Courtney Prokopas, Montague, MA
Undergraduate College or University: University of Chicago
Graduate Institution: University of Illinois at Chicago
Academic/Career Pursuits: Film
 
Rachel Semigran, Norristown, PA
Undergraduate College or University: Drexel University
Graduate Institution: University of London
Academic/Career Pursuits: Applied Theater
 
 
Information about the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation Graduate Arts Award is available on the Foundation’s website at http://www.jkcf.org/scholarships/graduate-scholarships/jack-kent-cooke-graduate-arts-award/.
 
 
About the Foundation
 
The Jack Kent Cooke Foundation is a private foundation dedicated to helping young people of exceptional promise reach their full potential through education. The Foundation provides challenging opportunities to high achievers from lower-income families through its Young Scholars Program, generous scholarships for undergraduate and graduate study, and grants to nonprofit organizations and educational institutions.