Senior Mikaela E. is one of two recipients of the 2022 Staff Sgt. Alexandria Mae Gleason-Morrow Memorial Art Scholarship.
The scholarship is given annually by the Genesee Valley Council on the Arts to two high school seniors in Livingston County who have plans to continue their studies of the arts during their collegiate careers. This scholarship has always been a part of the GVCA Scholastic Art Show, but was renamed in honor of Gleason-Morrow, a staff sergeant in the U.S. Air Force who died in Jordan in 2017 in an accident that occurred while loading weapons onto an aircraft.
While still a student at Dansville High School, Gleason-Morrow was active in her district’s arts program and aspired to be a high school art teacher once she’d completed her service.
Gleason-Morrow was 25 years old when she died and left behind a husband and two daughters.
Mikaela was nominated for the $350 scholarship by Marnie Harvey, her photography teacher at Avon Central Schools.
“Mikaela continually impresses me with her strong range of skills. She is a highly organized student whose work is always timely, thorough and demonstrates her attention to detail,” said Harvey. “Our photography course requires students to produce work in a variety of ways – visual, written, collaborative, presentations. Regardless of the assignment, Mikaela consistently produces high quality work.”
One of Mikaela’s photographs, “Down the Stairs” recently took first place in the traditional film category at GVCA’s Scholastic Art Show.
Harvey said Mikaela’s first-place recognition was “a well-deserved honor.”
“Mikaela's winning photo is a good example of her approach, showing a unique perspective on an otherwise everyday subject and is technically accurate from exposure through printing in the darkroom,” Harvey said. “And, it was actually one of the first assignments of the school year!”
Mikaela said submitting work to GVCA's Scholastic Art Show, not to mention earning an award for it, was a great way to finish out her high school photography career.
“I’m glad that I was able to enter the show this year and place with my piece because it’s a nice conclusion to my high school photography experience and makes me excited for my future in photography in college,” she said.
Mikaela is planning to attend Rochester Institute of Technology in the fall to pursue a degree in advertising photography.
Senior Mikaela E.’s “Down the Stairs” took first place in March the traditional film photography category of the Genesee Valley Council on the Arts’ Scholastic Art Show.