The board of directors of the Kennebec Valley Art Association recently voted to invest the organizations scholarship funds with the Maine Community Foundation as of 2010, to meet goals of improved oversight and ongoing professional financial management. There are two scholarships, the Tardiff/Fine Scholarship which is available now for a graduating senior at Cony High School pursuing post-secondary education in the visual arts or art education. The second fund, the Kennebec Valley Art Association Memorial Fund will be available for a graduating senior at Hall-Dale High School pursuing post-secondary education in the visual arts or art education, but not until 2011 or 2012 when the principle investment reaches $10,000.
Image attached: A picture from a 2003 article in the Kennebec Journal shows Antoinette Tardiff attending a 40th anniversary celebration for the Harlow Gallery.
Interested students can find more information online at the websites for the Maine Community Foundation www.mcf.org and the Harlow Gallery www.harlowgallery.org. Details on the respective scholarships, and the KVAA members they memorialize follow.
Tardiff/Fine Scholarship
This scholarship in memory of two long-time members of the Kennebec Valley Art Association in Hallowell supports a graduating senior at Cony High School pursuing post-secondary education in the visual arts or art education. Visit the Maine Community Foundation’s Scholarship page for Kennebec County for details.
Antoinette Tardiff an Augusta native, was a charter member of the Kennebec Valley Art Association, founded in 1958. Antoinette started painting in 1951 and found it to be a rewarding expression of her feelings and ideas which she enjoyed sharing with others. She painted in different media, but preferred watercolor. She studied art with James Elliot, John Muench, Marion Chapman, Leo Meissner and Frederic Hynd. Antoinette herself taught art as a volunteer at the Augusta Mental Health Institute, and also in Augusta schools and surrounding communities. Works by Antoinette Tardiff can be found in collections throughout the United States, as well as in several foreign countries, especially Canada. During her lifetime, Mrs. Tardiff’s work was exhibited widely in Maine, most notably the Maine State Art Festival at the Statehouse in Augusta, the Farnsworth Museum in Rockland, Cumston Hall in Monmouth and at the Harlow Gallery in Hallowell. In 1978 one of her seascapes was selected for display in the office of the late Senator Edmund Muskie in Washington, D.C.
Blanche T. Fine was a member of the KVAA from 1967 until her death in 1977. While she resided in Maine she was an active and loyal member of the art association, where she volunteered as a gallery “hostess” through the 60’s. She continued to support the KVAA after she and her husband retired to Flourtown, Pennsylvania. Blanche’s husband, Dr. Salem Fine, established the scholarship in her memory in 1978.
KVAA Memorial Scholarship
This scholarship in memory of past members of the Kennebec Valley Art Association in Hallowell will supports a graduating senior at Hall-Dale High School pursuing post-secondary education in the visual arts or art education. We expect the first scholarship to be awarded in 2011 or 2012, once the principle reaches $10,000. Watch the Maine Community Foundation’s Scholarship page for Kennebec County for details.
Set up in the 1960’s by the board of the Kennebec Valley Art Association in Hallowell, the KVAA Memorial Scholarship was created as a way of honoring deceased members of the art association and their loved ones. Donations were made in the name of the following individuals over the years: Alice Ashley, Alta Ashley, Anne Bernstein, Michael Bosko, Lynn Fairbrother, Esther Laughlin, Sandra Lipman, Leo Meissner, Linwood Partridge, Marian Partridge, Lura S. Titcomb and Louise D. Webber.
The Harlow Gallery
home of the Kennebec Valley Art Association
160 Water Street, Hallowell, ME 04347
207-622-3813
website: http://www.harlowgallery.org
online store: http://www.harlowgallery.shop.mainecreates.com
facebook: http://www.facebook.com/theHarlow
images: http://picasaweb.google.com/harlowgallery/HarlowGallery2009?feat=directlink
