The Des Plaines Art Guild presented three $500 scholarships at the April 13th meeting to Maine West High School seniors Jessica Kaiser, Julie Moon, and Meghan Penebaker for their continuing study of art. Each year the Guild awards up to three scholarships to Des Plaines residents who are in their senior year of high school and plan to major in the field of art in college.

To qualify for the award, young artists present a portfolio of their work to a jury of professionals who judge on the basis of technique, creativity, concepts, and potential. Works of photography and digital imaging, as well as paintings, drawings, and sculpture are eligible for review. Over the years judges have included local painters, photographers, and artists well versed in a range of 2D and 3D media. Scholarship winners in previous years have attended Maine East High School, Elk Grove High School, as well as Maine West High School.

Two of the three winners, Kaiser and Penebaker, presented portfolios that concentrated on photography and digital imaging; the third, Moon works in oil and found objects. Kaiser is the daughter of Paul and Valerie Kaiser and a member of the Maine West National Art Society. She has been named Student of the Quarter a number of times for her work in Digital Imaging, received an annual Art Department Award, and was named a first place medalist in the Chicago Area 5 x 7 Art Exhibit for Technology. She has had her work selected two years for the Great Frame Up’s annual LISA Show and was part of a group show this February at The Sweet Remembrance Coffee Shop in Des Plaines. She plans to attend Columbia College in Chicago, this fall.

Penebaker is the daughter of David and Carol Penebaker and plans to attend Oakton Community College and the Illinois Institute of Art. Her work has been exhibited in three Gallery 64 shows and the CSL 22nd Annual Student Art Show. She has been selected as Student of the Quarter for Photography and received multiple recognition awards in Digital Imaging and Photography. She, too, is a member of the Maine West National Art Society and has shown her work at Sweet Remembrance Coffee Shop.

Moon, the daughter of Hyewouk and Linda Moon placed first in an art show sponsored by a Korean newspaper. She has exhibited in a total of three Korean newspaper sponsored exhibitions. Her work was chosen for the Great Frame Up’s annual LISA Show during her sophomore year and for a second time this year. She will attend the Maryland Institute College of Art in the fall.

In addition to the monetary award, scholarship winners are given a one year complimentary membership in the Guild.
The Des Plaines Art Guild was established in June of 1953 and was formed to promote artistic activities and to encourage community in the field of creative art. Meetings are held monthly, from September through June at the Prairie Lakes Community Center. Work by Guild artists is on display on the third floor of the Des Plaines Library, the Lee Street US Bank lobby, the O’Hare Campus of DePaul University and other venues. Each June the Guild holds a two day art fair. This year the 57th Annual Des Plaines Invitational Art Fair will be indoors, Saturday and Sunday, June 5th and 6th, at Metropolitan Square, just west of River Road in downtown Des Plaines.