PORT ANGELES — A new scholarship fund has been created in the name of a Port Angeles art teacher known for guiding students who needed a little extra help.
United Way of Clallam County’s Clallam Community Foundation and the Steelquist family announced the Jenny Steelquist Art Saves Lives Scholarship, to be awarded for the first time this year to a member of Port Angeles High School’s graduating class.
The scholarship is intended as a memorial for Jenny Steelquist and to continue to make a difference in art students’ lives, said her husband, Bob Steelquist.
Jenny Steelquist was a Port Angeles High School art teacher from 1994 through 2009 and an active community member.
She died of cancer at age 60 on April 2, 2013.
“It was an idea she had come up with before she died,” her husband said.
As a teacher, she took it upon herself to work with kids who might not have been working at their full potential and used art as a way to express powerful emotions, he said.
He said the scholarship is a way for her to continue helping these students even after her death.
A $1,000 scholarship will be awarded to a graduating Port Angeles High School senior who plans to formally study art at an accredited community college, art school or university.
The recipient may apply for an additional $1,000 for 2016-17 based on demonstrated success during the first year of the scholarship.
Bob Steelquist said the scholarship fund currently has $9,000 for at least the next few years, and additional funds will be sought for a continuing scholarship program.
This year’s applicants must demonstrate a financial need; graduate from Port Angeles High School in 2015 with an academic record of successful participation in visual arts classes; and have an acceptance or pending application to a four-year or community college or an art, design or performing arts schools.
To be considered, students must submit an application, a portfolio of four original pieces of visual artwork, a written essay and two letters of recommendation by May 1.
One letter must be from a teacher, according to scholarship guidelines.
“It is close to an entry to an artist’s juried exhibition or admission to an art school. It’s a process common in the art world,” Bob Steelquist said.
To make donations to the art scholarship fund, other scholarship funds or United Way’s general endowment fund, phone United Way at 360-457-3011.
For more information on the scholarship and for applications, phone Jeani Hill in Port Angeles High School’s guidance office at 360-565-1562.
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Reporter Arwyn Rice can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5070, or at arice@peninsuladailynews.com.