Each year the Thomasville Cultural Center’s Artist Guild awards a $1,000 Scholarship for Artistic Excellence to a graduating senior who definitely plans to pursue an art major and is already accepted to a college, university or art school. The Center is proud to announce this year’s winner, Susanlea Danielle Anderson. Susanlea studied under Ms. Jocelyn Rivard, art teacher at Thomas County Central High School.

A panel of judges chose the winner by reviewing portfolios from a pool of applicants. Ms. Anderson won the scholarship due to the high quality of her work, her creative expression and her handling of various media. She will begin her college career at the Southwest Georgia Technical College and then transfer to Thomas University.

Ms. Anderson’s art work will be on display June 7 – August 15, 2009 at the Thomasville Cultural Center and she will be honored at the 20th Annual Summer Showcase opening reception on June 7th. The reception is scheduled from 3:00 pm to 4:30 pm and is open to the public. As an award-winning artist, Ms. Anderson was named Artist of the Year 2007-2008 at her high school and she has won top prizes at both the Deep South Fine Art Competition and North Florida Fair Youth Arts Show.

For 29 years, the Thomasville Artist Guild has been a viable cultural arts organization with ongoing outreach programs in our community. In 1997, the Artist Guild merged with the Thomasville Cultural Center and an annual scholarship was instituted at that time. This scholarship, administered by the Thomasville Cultural Center, is awarded to a graduating high school senior who plans to pursue a career in the art field.