Charles Henderson High School senior Jessica Large has been named the 2014 recipient of the Jean Lake Memorial Scholarship, which is sponsored annually by the Troy Arts Council.
The $2,000 scholarship award is granted over a two-year period at $500 per semester.
Large is a fourth year art student at CHHS and a member of the Advanced Placement art course.
Pam Smith, CHHS art instructor, said Large showed promise as an art student as a freshman and has always gone beyond the basic requirements she gives to her students.
“Jessica is a very good photographer and does great artwork with photography and computer images,” Smith said. “Jessica has a unique way of looking at things. Using her skills as a photographer and with computer imaging, she changes color and patterns and turns ordinary things into artistic pieces.”
Smith said Large is very deserving of the prestigious Jean Lake Memorial Scholarship and will benefit greatly from it.
Large expressed appreciation to the TAC for the confidence shown in her by the awarding of the scholarship.
“It’s encouraging to know that others have confidence in you and think there’s value in what you do,” she said.
Large gives credit for her artistic abilities to her dad who “draws a little,” her grandmother who does oil painting and her brother who taught her how to draw when she was five or six years old.
“I’ve always liked to color and draw but I didn’t know that I was good at it until I was in about the fourth or fifth grade and friends always wanted me to do all the drawing,” she said.
Painting is Large’s favorite medium and photography comes in a close second.
“I like working with shapes,” she said. “And, I like abstract art. It makes me sit and think what it could be.”
As much as she enjoys art, Large will only minor in art in college.
“I plan to go to the University of South Alabama and earn a degree in architecture or mechanical engineering.
“I want to incorporate art into the building concepts. That will be interesting work.”