The A. Eric Arctander Artist Scholarship was created by family and friends. The award is to honor Eric not only as an artist but as a teacher, mentor and friend of younger artists who assisted them in pursuing a life in art.
A. Eric Arctander was a visual artist who has been widely exhibited as a painter and the creator of site-specific public art for which he received the Municipal Art Society Certificate of Merit. He was co-founder and President of Collaborative Concepts, a not-for-profit, non-membership organization that has facilitated exhibitions since 2000. He initiated that organization’s Program for Advanced Environmental Art for college level art students.
Eric Arctander was Professor of Art History for more than 15 years at Pratt Institute as well as on the faculty of the School of Visual Arts for over 25 years. He has published many articles and written critical catalog essays on advanced art.
Image: A. Eric Arctander,Oculus Series
“During the night some of the mountains moved.
Presumably to higher ground.
Now our valley seemed so low, but it still looked like home. It is where my family has been for generations. Only my grandmother was an outsider. She came from another valley. All her life she would regale us with the marvels of her valley. Like ours, it had a river dividing it and thus, like us, there are people from the other side. I have never been there as the journey is both dangerous and boring.
When I was a child the most extraordinary event occurred. A plane landed in our valley. The glittering wings stacked upon wings stood out among the cows in the field. Although foul smelling, the pilot was a dashing figure in a white scarf. Where he came from and where he was going, was a mystery to all. And because he spoke French it was never learned. I knew then what my destiny was to be. To Fly! To fly from valley to valley.
In my life, however, I have not been bitter or disappointed that such a fate would elude me (although I continue to study French). So it was that I came to be an artist. And still I paint those valleys of my dreams and take flight over distant mountains.”
2014 Matthew Keeney
2016 Lance Johnson & Kendra Shedenhelm
2017 Daniel Willner
2018 Stefanie Wolfson
2019 Natalia Arbalaez
2020 no scholarship offered
2021 no scholarship offered
2022 no scholarship offered
2023 Stefanie Wolfson
Call to Cultural Organizations and Community Non-Profits 2020 Funding Opportunity for Art Projects in Putnam County, NY.
Guidelines and Application are posted under the “Grants” link in the top menu of this webpage. Start with the grants overview here www.putnamartscouncil.com/arts-link-grant-program-overview.
Contact our Grants Coordinator: grants@putnamartscouncil.com or contact PAC at 845-803-8622.
2013 – Jenny Oliva – Mahopac High School and Connor Filardo – Haldane High School
2012 – Brendan Maxcy of Carmel High School
2009 – Michele Belanich of Putnam Valley High School
2008 – Amber Vittoria of Carmel High School
2006 – Lioudmila (Mila) Matveeva of Brewster High School
2005 – Kathleen McDermott of Carmel High School
2004 – Katharyn LaRanger of Carmel High School, and Kaitlin Sullivan of Haldane Central School
2003 – Mike Vlad of Carmel High School
2002 – Janette Maron of Mahopac High School, and Dana Regina of Mahopac High School
2001 – Sarah Gilchrist of Carmel High School, and Jennifer Collins of Mahopac High School
2000 – Melissa Young of Brewster High School
1999 – Kristan Johnson of Carmel High School, and Daniel Kucharczyk of Mahopac High School
1998 – Brian Ephraim of Mahopac High School
Each year the Putnam Arts Council presents the All County Student Art Show in cooperation with the Putnam County high schools. This show is displayed in the Levine Art Center Galleries and often provides the first opportunity for students to display their artwork in a professional gallery setting.
Artwork from this show is often purchased and becomes part of the Bernard & Maria Hassell Collection, a permanent collection of artwork maintained by the Putnam Arts Council and displayed in public sites throughout Putnam County.
The Hassell Collection is part of our Contemporary Collection, which also includes works donated to the Arts Council by area artists, and student artwork purchased from the National Council on Alcoholism Poster Contest.