Leah Aigner was selected to receive a $2,500 Philip J. Steele Arts Education Foundation Scholarship Award for the 2011-2012 academic year! She is currently attending Community College of Denver and is a sophomore in the Associate of Arts Program.
Her instructor, Dawn S. McFadden, considers Leah to be an artist of talent and imagination. “Her resourcefulness, determination and craft are evident in the care she brings to each of her projects and in her strong work ethic. Her ability to combine rich drawing skills with expansive ideation acts as a strong motivation in her discovery process. She is open and flexible in her approach to learning.”
Leah’s Artists Statement cuts right to the heart of the matter. “I don’t make art because I like to or want to. I make art because it is a compulsive need. It is almost an automatic reflex. I spend my time in constant wonder of the world around me. Whether the face of a stranger, a mountain vista or a broken window, it is all endlessly fascinating. And it is this fascination that fuels my compulsion. I see things and I need to recreate them. To explore and dissect them, tweak them and then make them again. In this way, I aim to not just create but also to change and communicate with the world.“
Her essay entitled “The Real World: a Decade of Lessons” is the honest self appraisal of a woman who has made her dream become a reality through hard work and dedication.
“By the time this essay reaches you, I will be a few weeks away from my 30th birthday. I am aware that this probably makes me older than the average candidate, and contrary to popular thinking, that is to my advantage. I spent my 20s in the workforce, clocking my forty hours a week in every industry from telecoms to kitchens. I would come home from the end of every work day exhausted and miserable. And do you know what I would do every night? The same thing I have done every day since I can remember: I would draw.
I also have had the time to get to know myself. And I from here, looking back at my 20s from the other side, I now know that there is simply nothing else I can do with my life.”
The piece that we chose from Leah’s portfolio is titled “Salmon” and was created using pen and ink. The dimensions are 9″x12″. This class project was completed in Drawing II as an exploration of color and value through ink.
Leah will continue her studies at Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design this fall.
Thank you to our artists, donors, and sponsors for your support!
I am writing to express my gratitude as a recent recipient of the Philip J. Steele Foundation’s scholarship. It’ll be hard to fully express how thankful I am in a letter, but here goes.
Let me begin with some of my background. I have been on my own since I was 17, working one service industry job after another. In the meantime, I would spend my free time drawing. Nothing makes a person feel the need to better themselves more than a decade in a kitchen, let me tell you. So for the past three years, I have been a student by day, a cook by night. My spare time is frequently measured in minutes rather than hours.
So it is with this in mind that I say thank you. Really, sincerely, thank you. Not just for helping to provide me with the means to complete my education but also for your inferred belief in my ability to succeed. And I will.
Yours truly,
Leah R Aigner
Random PJS Testimonial: "Thank you for believing that I have the ability to put your kindness and generosity to good use, and for believing that my education is something worth supporting. To everyone who donates to this foundation, those who run it, those who help in whatever way they can; you are all amazing people. Your kindness and contributions really go a long way. Thank you again for everything that you do!!" - Angelica Russell
