Tampa, Fla. (April 28, 2014) – Tampa Bay Businesses for Culture & the Arts (TBBCA) is proud to announce the selection of six Tampa Bay area high school students to receive The Charlie Hounchell Art Stars fine and performing arts scholarships. This TBBCA program is named in honor of TBBCA Past President, the late Charlie Hounchell, who was the program’s founder and champion. Since 2007, TBBCA has awarded $122,500 to some of the most promising and talented young artists and performers in the nation, providing financial assistance for higher education tuition to 49 Tampa Bay area students.
TBBCA awards six (6) scholarships in the amount of $2,500, one in each of six fine and performing arts categories: dance, instrumental music, literary arts, theatre, visual arts and vocal music. This year a deep talent pool of over 100 students from Hillsborough, Pinellas and Pasco Counties submitted applications to be judged on the basis of talent and merit by a distinguished panel of experts in their field.
The 2015 winners of The Charlie Hounchell Art Stars Scholarships are: Theatre – David Friedman, 12th grade, Howard W. Blake High School; Literary Arts – Amy Malakoff, 11th grade, Howard W. Blake High School; Dance – Alexandra Desruisseaux, 12th grade, Wiregrass Ranch High School; Instrumental Music – Mark Trotter, 12th grade, Keswick Christian School; Vocal Music – Ginny Swanson, 11th grade, Shorecrest Preparatory School; Visual Arts – Indigo Naar, 11th grade, Gibbs High School.
The 2015 panel of judges are: Theatre – Eugenie Bondurant, singer, television and film actor, with featured role as “Tigris” in the upcoming “The Hunger Games: Mockingjay-Part 2”; Literary Arts – Lisa Unger, award-winning New York Times and internationally best-selling author; Dance – Brian Fidalgo; Artistic Director, choreographer/dancer for Moving Current Dance Collective; Instrumental Music – Richard Sparrow, Florida Orchestra member and University of Tampa music faculty; Vocal Music – Dawne Eubanks, classical soloist and voice instructor at Eckerd College and Pinellas County Center for the Arts at Gibbs High School; and Visual Arts – Michael Murphy, gallery owner of Michael Murphy Gallery M.
Scholarship recipients will showcase their talent at The Charlie Hounchell Art Stars Scholarships Awards Program on May 7th at 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. at TBBCA pARTner The Dali Museum, One Dali Boulevard, St. Petersburg. The event is open to the public but by RSVP only to TBBCA, as space is limited. To RSVP please contact susanaweymouth@tbbca.org A reception following the awards presentation will be sponsored by Vantage Point Advisors of Raymond James.
To donate online to The Charlie Hounchell Art Stars Scholarships go to www.tbbca.org. Individual scholarship naming rights and sponsorships are available. Contact TBBCA 813-221-2787.
About TBBCA
Tampa Bay Businesses for Culture & the Arts is a nonprofit organization serving Pinellas, Hillsborough and Pasco Counties with the mission to unite Tampa Bay area businesses to champion arts education, arts and culture for a prosperous community. TBBCA innovative programs provide advocacy, support and funding for artists, arts education, and promote arts and culture, and are made possible through the generosity of pARTners, including Chair’s Circle: Premier Eye Care, MedHOK, Greenberg Traurig, Tampa Bay Magazine, Tampa Bay Times, Gay & Associates Realtors, Cox Media Group, The Wilson Company, Chappell Roberts, Alex McKnight, and Linda and Michael Connelly.
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