Congratulations on winning the $2,000 Spring 2023 Fine Art Scholarship and best wishes ongoing to:
Haley Slone, Junior at Wright State University, with a BFA major 
An amazing story of personal struggle for survival and the healing power of creative expression and her art, a few excerpts:
“When I was 17, I wanted to study Art in college. I loved to draw and paint, and I viewed the world through an artistic lens. Impressionable and afraid, I consulted with adults around me and was adamantly warned that studying art was an expensive ticket to nowhere. Discouraged and dejected, I floated from idea to idea. Clinging to the dream of being an artist and shaping the world around me through visual expression, I entered the work force at 18.
…I worked as a nurse for 5 years, and I really enjoyed helping people in my community, and having the opportunity to finally earn enough to sustain myself and my two amazing kids…
…A month after our wedding, I crashed my motorcycle. I spent 20 days in intensive care…After surviving the accident, I found myself miserable. My right arm was paralyzed, and I realized that all I wanted to be able to do was paint a picture again.
After eight hard months of rehabilitation, I miraculously regained the use of my right arm. I enrolled immediately in college. Life can end at any moment–I want to do art; it’s all I’ve ever wanted to do. I want to teach art to children, and inspire them the way I was once inspired. I want to fuel their creative flames and encourage them to chase their passions, as I was once so discouraged. I remember how I felt the first time I saw Monet’s Water Lilies series. I want to help people feel like that with my time here on Earth. I plan to sit for my K-12 Visual Arts Alternate Resident Educator’s License after completing my BFA.”
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