Two Har-Ber High School seniors earned $10,000 in scholarships through the Thea Foundation’s annual scholarship contest.
Avery Anderson earned a $3,000 visual arts scholarship, while Gracie Kennett received a $7,000 performing arts scholarship.
The students were two of 36 scholarship-winning students who received support to pursue higher education beginning in fall 2024, according to a Thea Foundation press release.
Some 332 students from across Arkansas applied for $219,000 in Thea scholarship awards this year, according to the press release. The program has awarded more than $3.1 million in scholarships to Arkansas students since its inception in 2002.
Graduating seniors submitted creative pieces in the areas of performing arts, visual arts, creative writing, film and fashion based on the 2024 theme of “Individual, and beautiful” to compete for the scholarships.
Anderson submitted a woodworking piece called “Becoming Music,” which incorporated images of music notes flowing through a human heart like a river of sound, a banjo, a fiddle and evergreens burnt into an oval piece of wood.
Kennett earned her scholarship for a video of her musical theater performance of the song “Even Though” from the musical “I Love You Because.”
Samples of scholarship-winning student works can be found on Thea Foundation’s website HERE.
Thea Foundation also announced the theme and deadline for the 2024/2025 competition, themed “Fluidity,” according to the press release. All rising seniors must submit their applications and work by Jan. 5, 2025.
About Thea Foundation: Thea Foundation’s mission is to advocate the importance of the Arts in the development of youth. Three programs are implemented statewide to support this mission—Thea Scholarships, Art Closet and Arts Reconstruction.