(L-R) Matt Etchison, Shelby Barker, Kari Wattles
A total of $6,000 was awarded from the Lebovitz Lively Arts Scholarship Fund this year to Mattoon High School graduates majoring in visual or performing arts. Three scholarships of $2,000 each were awarded to the following students: Shelby Barker (Class of 2014) is attending Southern Illinois University Carbondale majoring in interior design; Kari Wattles (Class of 2013) is attending Southern Illinois University Edwardsville majoring in dance with a minor in music; and Matt Etchison (Class of 2016) will attend Northern Illinois University to study Music Education.
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. The Lebovitz Lively Arts Scholarship has reached its sixth year of awarding scholarships to applicants who are graduates of Mattoon High School and major in the visual or performing arts.
