Nadia Mulhall received the first award this year from the Lisa Goldberg YS Arts Scholarship, established by ceramic artist and art supporter Lisa Goldberg to help young people or college-bound seniors further their education in the arts. (Photo by Lauren Heaton)
New fund establishes money for young artists
- Published: June 4, 2015
Scholarships support Yellow Springs students with many different abilities and interests, but to local resident Lisa Goldberg, scholarships in the visual arts are not as numerous as those in other fields. So she started one, known as the Lisa Goldberg YS Arts Scholarship, and gave the first award to YSHS senior Nadia Mulhall at the Yellow Springs High School Academic Awards Ceremony on May 15.
The support is modest — this year amounting to $400 for a single award. But it will help Mulhall pay for almost half of her tuition at the College of Fine Arts at Ohio University in the fall. And it could help others in the future with books and materials they will need as art students, for whom “every little bit counts,” Goldberg said.
As a presenter of the Yellow Springs Chamber of Commerce scholarships last year, Goldberg was impressed with the number of Yellow Springs alumni who had established scholarships in the name of a family member or in a particular field. As an alumna herself, Goldberg came home and decided she would start one too.
She chose the Yellow Springs Community Foundation to house the fund, and immediately contributed some of her own money. When she and her husband, Jeff McWilliams, got married last year, they asked that in lieu of gifts, guests contribute to charities, including the Goldberg scholarship. She gathered a selection committee of YSHS arts teacher Elizabeth Simons, potter and arts educator Bruce Grimes, and herself, and together they chose this year’s recipient. Though Mulhall was the only applicant for this year’s $300 and $100 gifts, Goldberg is certain that once students are aware of the fund, more will apply in the future.
Goldberg wants her scholarships to be available not just for college, but also for youth who want to attend an arts camp, such as Haystack Mountain School of Crafts in Maine. She has been impressed with the support for the arts in the local schools and wants to support young people who are continuing their education in the arts, she said.
Mulhall has won many awards from the National Scholastic Arts program for her photography and paintings. She will hold an opening of mandala paintings called “Botanical Portraits” at the Emporium on Saturday, June 13, from 4 to 7 p.m. The show will be up until Aug. 9.
Mulhall is also interested in broadening her experience with wood block, lithography and other printmaking techniques. She likes working with young children, and is interested in art curation at the university’s art museum. Mulhall said she hopes to possibly work as a children’s art teacher or at a children’s art museum.
The annual gifts from the Goldberg scholarship will depend on how much the fund grows over time, Goldberg said, adding that anyone is welcome to donate to the scholarship. But as an artist herself, Goldberg knows that getting exposure and making connections is important. She has made many of her own on the circuit with Lisa Goldberg Ceramics, her studio located just outside of Yellow Springs, and in the founding of both the Yellow Springs Art Fair and the annual Artist Studio Tour, now in its 17th year of operation. And she hopes to pass those connections on to young artists.
After meeting Mulhall and learning of her interest in curation, Goldberg immediately thought of a handful of artists she knows with connections to museums in the region.
“I want to find ways to help youth see options for their futures,” she said.
Goldberg also hopes that other community members consider how simple it is to establish a scholarship, in any amount, to support young people in their pursuits in a particular field of interest.
“I wanted people to know that they can do this too,” she said. “We’d love more people to donate to this one for the arts, but I also want to encourage other alumni funds because you can see the difference alumni are making.”
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