SEQUIM — The Blue Whole Gallery is proud to announce that two Sequim High School student artists are their 2023 scholarship winners.
The judging committee named Ava Bower as the $500 Shirley Foss Memorial Scholarship winner.
Bower is a Sequim High School senior and part of the graduating class of 2023.
She plans to attend Western Washington University in the fall and study media and design.
The annual award honors the life of Shirley Foss, one of the original members of the gallery when it opened in 1997 and is designed to help students who wish to pursue a career in the visual arts.
Bower’s pursuit of art began as a hobby after receiving art supplies as presents. In high school she attended Advanced Placement Studio Art classes.
She also enrolled in the Running Start program her junior year taking as many media classes as possible at Peninsula College.
While earning a 3.6 GPA and high honors, she has been active in the Sequim High School Interact the Change Club, the varsity volleyball team and as an advocate with the Healthy Families of Clallam County.
In the future, she hopes to join a magazine design team and become the lead layout designer.
“I enjoy putting together words and art as well as speaking millions of words through my art,” Bower said.
The $500 Karen Rozbicki-Stringer Memorial Scholarship was awarded to Teagan D. Hough.
Hough is a Sequim High School Senior and part of the graduating class of 2023. Her goal is to enroll at Portland State University in the fall and study Art Practice, specifically Illustration and Concept Art.
This memorial scholarship was created in memory of the late Karen Rozbicki- Stringer, a fine art photographer and eight-year member of the Blue Whole Gallery.
Hough said she has been drawing since early childhood, but her interest in storytelling as an art medium started after receiving a comic book as a gift from her father when she was 10.
This book sparked her desire to create comic characters and worlds of her own.
As a multi-racial artist, she values diversity in media.
“Being seen is one of the best feelings in the world and I want to use my talents as a way to reach broader audiences who have not been able to see themselves reflected in stories,” she said.
Hough has been active with extracurricular activities including theater, writers’ workshops, the St. Mary’s Get Inked Writers Conference and multiple Comic Conferences.
She has attended Running Start since her junior year and has received letters of recommendations from her teachers and school administrators.
“She brings characters and scenes to life with her incredible imagination and attention to detail,” wrote Jodi Olson, the Highly Capable Program for the Sequim School District.
