Five fine art students awarded with 2024 Larry Wilson Scholarships

MOOSE JAW — The prestigious Larry Wilson Scholarship program has returned this summer to assist deserving students hoping to pursue the fine arts with some of the funds needed to take the next step in what can be a challenging career path.

Five students were awarded scholarships worth $3,500 apiece during the last week of July.

This year’s Larry Wilson Scholarship recipients are:

• Brooke Zarubin: vocals and musical theatre
• Tague O’Bright: instrumentalists
• Presley McLeod: musical theatre
• Sophia Peters: drama
• Alicia Zarubin: literature

The Larry Wilson Scholarship program is now in its 16th year and awards funding to deserving students within the city’s enterprise region. Eligible students must be over the age of 17 and planning to pursue post-secondary education at a recognized school.

Wilson, who the scholarship is named after, was himself a philanthropist and supporter of the arts.

In addition to his namesake scholarship, Wilson purchased what is now the Moose Jaw Cultural Centre building (formerly the Capitol Theatre) and donated it to the City of Moose Jaw. When the building was remodelled in 2004, the Mae Wilson Theatre was named in honour of his mother who ran a local dance studio and encouraged the artistic abilities of her six children.

Wilson’s legacy then grew with the final addition of his scholarship program.

“He wanted to make sure that musicians and people in those fields received an opportunity to go and study,” Regina Sagal-Hendry explained on behalf of Moose Jaw Arts in Motion back in 2021.

Before his death, Wilson was searching for a suitable way to continue supporting the arts. Utilizing funds from his personal estate worth more than $1 million, Wilson met with Gary Hyland — himself a long-time supporter of the arts and founder of Arts in Motion — to help administer the program.

Today, Arts in Motion continues to facilitate the scholarship program that is now funded and administered by the South Saskatchewan Community Foundation.

One former scholarship recipient of note is Amelia Mitchell, who recently had her film nominated for Best Canadian Short Film at the Change the Script film festival in Hamilton, Ont. on July 31.

Presley McLeod is the youngest recipient of this year’s scholarship and recently graduated from Central Collegiate. Her scholarship was awarded after adjudicators received a couple video submissions showcasing her past productions.

McLeod, in one example of her work, won the provincial title for musical theatre at the 2021 Saskatchewan Music Festival for her performance of “Not for the Life of Me” from the 1967 film and 2005 stage musical Thoroughly Modern Millie.

“I was pretty excited…,” she said. “It’s always fun when you get scholarships based on the things that you’ve worked hard at… I feel like musical theatre (has)… been the main aspect of my life for the last four years.”

Thanks in part to the scholarship, McLeod is now registered in a one-year program at the Sheridan College in Oakville, Ont. There, she plans to specialize in musical theatre and aspires to one day begin a diverse career in the fine arts.

“That’s definitely the field that I’m going to focus on because it’s what makes me happy,” she said.

After finding inspiration through Paul McCorriston, her band and choir teacher at Central Collegiate, and Stella Salido-Porter, her vocal teacher for the past eight years, McLeod wished to thank them and Arts in Motion for empowering her to pursue her dream.

“It’s super heartwarming to know that, as someone who is interested in the arts, that there are other people out there that care… about the arts as much as you do,” she said.

To lean more about the Larry Wilson Scholarship and to apply for next year’s program, visit ArtsInMotion.ca. Applications open around April each year with a set deadline of June 30.