A total of $12,000 was awarded this year to MHS graduates majoring in visual or performing arts from the Lebovitz Lively Arts Scholarship Fund. Each of the following students received a $2,000 scholarship:
Audra Ferguson graduated from Mattoon High School in 2009 and will attend Illinois State University majoring in music education and acting; Stacey Hildebrand, graduated from Mattoon High School this year and attend ¬Eastern Illinois University majoring in art therapy; Jenna Jackley graduated from Mattoon High School in 2011 and attend Greenville College majoring in commercial music/audio engineering; Jara Moser graduated from Mattoon High School in 2010 and will attend The Art Institute of California – San Francisco majoring in media arts and animation; Megan Schuler graduated from Mattoon High School this year and will attend Southern Illinois University – Carbondale majoring in music education and Kari Wattles graduated from Mattoon High School this year and will attend ¬Southern Illinois University – Edwardsville majoring in music with a musical theater specialization.
The scholarship was named in honor of Carl Lebovitz and James K. Lively, formerly of Mattoon. Lively worked as a freelance translator of many Slavic languages and was a patron of the arts during all of his adult life. He died in 1998. Lebovitz, also a language translator, was a founding member of the Mattoon Arts Council and a patron of the arts throughout his life. He participated in local theatrical productions over the years, and was the Journal Gazette/Times-Courier’s arts reviewer-at-large for 30 years. Lebovitz died in 2009. 2013 marks the third year of the Lebovitz Lively Arts Scholarship to applicants who are graduates of Mattoon High School and who major in the visual or performing arts.
For more information about the Lebovitz Lively Arts Scholarship Fund or the Mattoon Area Community Foundation contact Joedy Hightower at 217-235-2500. For more information on the Mattoon Arts Council, go to www.mattoonartscouncil.org.
