A total of seven artists covering a diverse range of disciplines received the awards this year, which totalled $3,400 each.
“It’s an enormous amount of money going out to these fine artists, and it’s not that frequent that this kind of money is available to the artistic community,” said Regina Sagal-Hendry with Moose Jaw Arts in Motion. “You always get the scholarships that go out to those who are great in science and math and things like that, so we’re happy to be able to offer them to artists who are just as deserving.”
The awards saw two repeat scholarship winners as pianist Shantelle Mayo won her second-straight Kathleen Wilson Scholarship for Instrumentals and Amelia Mitchell picked up her second Lawrence Wilson Literary Scholarship.
Ha’Keena Maneso was awarded the Dorothy Wilson Scholarship for Traditional Dance after picking up a pair of Wilson scholarships last year, one of those being the Marlene Wilson Scholarship for Contemporary Dance, which went to Maia Park this year.
Jaidyn Gieni is also a multiple-time winner after picking up the Lawrence Wilson Scholarship for Drama, while the Gerald B. Wilson Scholarship for Musical Theatre went to first-time winner Brooke Zarubin. Sterling Boehm also won his first, claiming the Syliva Wilson Scholarship for Vocals.
Seeing the wide range of applicants this year and scholarships being awarded to seven separate individuals was a positive in Sagal-Hendry’s eyes, especially knowing the funds will help with the development of each of the performers.
“When you get $3,400, that’s a lot of money, so we try and make sure we get applications from everyone in every field and that’s what we were able to get this year,” she said. “And a lot of our winners have gone on to be in major performances and travel and have careers in the fields they’re studying. So we’re just so fortunate to have someone like Larry Wilson, who year-after-year is helping out the community.”
Wilson, of course, needs little introduction.
One of his major philanthropic efforts on top of the scholarship program was purchasing what is now the Moose Jaw Cultural Centre building and donating it to the city, with the facility later being remodelled to include the Mae Wilson Theatre, named after his mother.
The scholarship program also has a close connection to his family, as the awards are named after his six brothers and sisters.
It all came into being when Wilson was looking for a way to support the Moose Jaw artistic community, and working alongside fellow long-time local supporter of the arts Gary Hyland, decided to use a part of his estate to fund the range of scholarships.
“He wanted to make sure that musicians and people in those fields received an opportunity to go and study,” Sagal-Hendry said. “Now hopefully the scholarships continue to grow and we’re able to continue to help more and more people.”
The scholarships are administered by the South Saskatchewan Community Foundation, who provide adjudicators for each of the awards. For more information and to apply for the 2022 honours, be sure to visit www.artsinmotion.ca.
