Fall/Winter 2022

Bursary Winners

Supporting the new generation

By Kodie Trahan-Guay

Belleville

Bursary Winners

The arts foster creativity, passion and drive and an arts-based education is a foundation on which a lifetime of success can be built. Each year, the Quinte Arts Council (QAC) awards six bursaries to students graduating from secondary schools in the Quinte region who are going on to study the arts at a university or college in Canada.

Arts education is a core part of the QAC mandate. The QAC Artists in Schools program helps introduce students to practicing artists while filling gaps left by funding shortfalls.

“The students who received the 2022 Graduating Bursaries spent half their high school careers in some form of lockdown. They are a resilient group of students who pursued their passions despite extreme adversity,” says QAC Executive Director Janet Jarrell. “Supporting arts education for students is critical because it supports art as a viable career.”

2022 Graduating Student Bursaries:

The Elaine A. Small Bursary

Neon Revell graduated from Bayside Secondary School and is attending Concordia in the fall to study Studio Art. Art is incredibly important to Revell. “Making art gives me a way to process events, feelings, and to express what’s in my head when I can’t convey it with words,” he says. “Experiencing other people’s art is an amazing way to connect, to get a glimpse of what’s in their heart and their lives.”

The Hugh P. O’Neil Bursary

Payton Denyes graduated from Centennial Secondary School and is attending Toronto Metropolitan University to study Media Production. “Next year, I would love to combine my passion for the arts with my dream of working with people in a career that supports the creative growth of others while creating films and events that inspire on a global scale,” she says. “I want to work in a diverse industry such as the entertainment and film industry where I can help others share their stories.”

Holli Finch graduated from St. Paul Catholic Secondary School and is attending the University of Ottawa to study Fine Arts. “Rather than dreading going to work every day, which makes up most of one’s life, I want to do something that excites me,” she says. “I want to create something I am proud of. This is what art is for me; it is my expression, my means of exercising my creativity and hopefully, I can live off this.”

Susan Richardson Bursary

Anissa Nielsen graduated from Centennial Secondary School and is attending Queen’s University with a Major in Biochemistry and a Minor in Music. “After graduating, I would like to continue performing, as I cannot imagine my life without music. I wish to remain involved with the arts – particularly classical music – in the community and would love to eventually direct a youth choir,” she says.

Quinte Arts Council Bursary

Gabrielle Edwards graduated from Trenton High School and is attending Seneca College to take Acting for Camera and Voice. “I am pursuing a career in the Arts because of the positive influence I can create as an actress and producer. As I continue to grow in my school community, I am extremely grateful for the opportunities I have had to make a positive difference and cannot wait to make even more change in the arts community,” she says. “I look forward to creating diversity with my artistic creations and creating more opportunities in the film industry for people who aren’t given opportunities that they should.”

Ryan Gray graduated from Centennial Secondary School and is attending Toronto Metropolitan University to take Media Production. “It may sound cliché, but through my love of music, passion for visual arts and relating to movies, I have processed key moments of my life through this creative outlet,” he says. “Media is an integral part of society and has immense power to effect change, and it is my hope to be able to have a career in this field, changing our world.”


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