As this fall semester winds down at the University of North Georgia, scholarship fundraising campaigns are up and running. Scholarships are important for students because they can be life-changing. When family or personal circumstances make funding a college education challenging a scholarship can really make a difference. I know this from personal experience because I was a scholarship recipient and receiving it gave the financial boost needed to make my college career possible.
The scholarship I was given was for a student who would become a future teacher in a public school in Georgia and I enrolled at North Georgia College as an elementary education major. That degree wasn't what I really wanted to pursue but the scholarship dictated that direction. As it turned out, a requirement for the elementary education major was an art education class taught by the man who became a major influence and mentor for me, Bob Owens. Although there wasn't a degree program in art at NGC at the time, in addition to the art ed class Bob taught a few courses in ceramics, painting and art appreciation. One day I confided in him about my desire to be an art major but that I needed to keep the scholarship by remaining in the education program. It was then that Bob gave me advice to transfer to the University of Georgia where I could major in art education. Art could be an option for an education major?? I did not have a clue about that before! Right away I made an application to UGA and was accepted for the following fall.
Between 1969 and 1971 I'd graduated with a bachelors degree in art education, begun teaching high school art, and started working on a masters in art education. In the meantime, Bob Owens had been working on developing a degree program for visual art and music at NGC and in 1971, the Department of Fine Arts at NGC was approved and initiated. More about the beginnings of the department is found at this link.
I began working at North Georgia College in the fall of 1972 and spent the next twenty-eight years as a faculty member in visual art. After retiring from full time teaching in 2000, I continued to be the instructor for weaving classes until 2009. I'm grateful for the years I spent at North Georgia, both as a student for a couple of years and later as a faculty member in visual art.
In recognition of fifty years of visual arts at UNG and in the hopes that other students can be financially assisted as I once was, a scholarship has been established in my name. Fundraising is currently going on to fully endow it so that a student or students will receive it annually. Here's a link to the fundraising page. If you choose to make a donation, thank you so much! Your contribution will be part of making a difference in many future students' lives and careers.
