Geneva Lake Art Association

GLAA Announces Student Art Competition & Scholarship Winners!

Local High School Art Students Receive Awards from:

       ^. the Neal Heffernan Foundation,

      ^. the Lake Geneva Rotary,

      ^. the Mergener Family Trust,

      ^. and the Geneva Lake Art Association

On Friday evening, May 4, 2012 at the Geneva Lake Art Association gallery, the Neal Heffernan Art Scholarship Foundation and the Lake Geneva Rotary presented the following awards to art students from Badger, Big Foot and Williams Bay High Schools:

Congratulations to all the winners and to all those who participated in this event.

Best of Show

"Petra"

Milagros Ramirez

Big Foot High School

Best of Show, and a $750 scholarship, was awarded to Milagros Ramirez, a student at Big Foot High School for her white charcoal drawing, “Petra”; a $250 Award of Merit was awarded to Allison Conway from Badger High School for her watercolor painting, “Chameleon”; a second $250 Award of Merit was presented to Zack Zeigler of Williams Bay High School for his Ink on watercolor, “Koi Fish in Blue”.  Four additional Certificates of Recognition were awarded to Maxwell Cozzi of Badger High School for his graphite drawing, “Time is Even Parts 1-4”, Kayla Decker of Big Foot High School for her ceramic work, “The Early Chick Gets the Tea”, Ryan Sodomire of Big Foot High School for his digital photograph, “Untitled”, and Jade Hamm of Badger High School for her chalk pastel “Untitled Portrait”.  Presenting the awards for the Neal Heffernan Art Foundation and the Lake Geneva Rotary were, President-elect Jim Daily, and Scholarship Chairperson, Laura Berg of the Lake Geneva Rotary.

Neal Heffernan graduated from the Art Institute of Chicago in 1947. Although his career went in a different direction, he never stopped creating – he was always drawing, painting or sculpting. His artwork was one of the greatest passions in his life. Neal was a long-time member of the Rotary Club of Lake Geneva and a member of the Geneva Lake Art Association. He passed away at the age of 80 in 2001.

Many years ago, a fellow Rotarian and very good friend of Neal’s, Fran Purtell, lost his wife Jane to cancer. Jane was the center of Fran’s life and Neal was concerned that Fran would just give up on life after losing Jane, so he made it his mission to keep Fran connected to the world. Neal called Fran regularly to see how he was doing, picked him up to go to Rotary luncheon meetings, and included Fran in get-togethers with friends.

Years later, after Neal passed away in 2001, Fran contacted Neal’s wife, Dorthy, and told her this story. He said Neal helped him through a very difficult time in his life. And so, to honor Neal’s dedication as a fine artist and his devotion to their friendship, in 2001 Fran decided to establish the Neal Heffernan Art Scholarship Fund through the Rotary Club of Lake Geneva. Fran passed away this winter.

The lesson Neal’s family would like the artists participating in these awards to walk away with, is that having a passion for your art form is essential, but it is even more important to be dedicated to your family and friends, because they will stand by you and offer you support throughout your entire life.

The Geneva Lake Art Association also presented two awards: The Louis Mergener Memorial $500 Scholarship was presented by Tracey Mergener, on behalf of herself and brother, Matt Mergener, to Ian Maclay of Badger High School for his ink drawing, “Untitled”.  A second $200 GLAA Members’ Choice Award was presented by GLAA President Jeanne Dyer to Dahlia Peters of Badger High School for her oil painting, “Theater”.

Louis Mergener was also a member of the Geneva Lake Art Association for many years. He passed away two years ago. As his daughter Tracy revealed during the awards ceremony, when Louis lost his wife, he also lost his incentive for practicing his art. It wasn’t until several years later, while visiting with his grandchildren, who encouraged him to draw something for them, that he started to take up his art again. He discovered that the creation of his art was a form of healing from the sadness in his life. Tracy encouraged all the artists present at the awards ceremony, to keep doing their art, as a form of healing whatever problems they may be having in their lives.

The exhibition, which also includes work from GLAA class instructors and students, will be open to the public through Sunday, June 3, 2012.

Many thanks to the high school art instructors, parents, friends and Geneva Lake Art Association members who support the arts, both in the schools, and throughout the Lake Geneva Community. 

The GLAA gallery, located in the North Shore Pavilion at 647 Main Street in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, features a member gallery and weekly classes. Monthly meetings are held where artists can interact, learn and make connections, followed by an art demonstration or discussion. The gallery is open to the public Saturday 10-4 and Sunday 1- 4. For additional information, visit our website at www.genevalakeart.org or leave a message at (262) 249-7988.