Hearts for the Arts

The Willapa Heritage Foundation announced in May that they would be awarding up to $1,000 to an area student who will be a freshman in college this fall majoring in the arts.

They actually awarded two local students $500 each; Jennifer Meliton from South Bend High School who will be attending Grays Harbor Community College in the fall. The second $500 scholarship went to Anatola Howard from Willapa Valley High school who has been accepted to the California Institute of Art to begin a BFA degree in Character Animation.

The program, Hearts for the Arts, has a mission to encourage the arts in the community and they feel one of the best ways to accomplish this goal is help local students.

Another way that the group helps the local community is to work summer programs.

"We are looking at providing supplies for the art programs in our school districts or any other financial help we can provide. We will be funding the Timberland Libraries four week summer drawing class for students at both the Raymond and South Bend libraries. These classes will be taught by Greg Bjordal, an artist from South Bend. They will be held Tuesdays, June 30-July 21. Raymond classes will be from 1.-2:30 p.m. and South Bend will be from 3-4:30 p.m. This will culminate in an art show of the student's works during the Willapa Harbor Festival. For further information, please check with your local libraries.

Also this summer the Willapa Heritage Foundation will be sponsoring a vendor's booth at the Willapa Harbor Festival, July 31 through August 2 in downtown Raymond. This booth will be for the exclusive use of area students to sell their arts and crafts. Any student interested in making a little money from their work can fill out an application form," said Judy Buroker of the Willapa Harbor Foundation.