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Hope Thomas, a senior at Pike Liberal Arts School is the recipient of the 2021 Jean Lake Scholarship which is awarded annually by the Troy Arts Council.

Bill Hopper, council president, congratulated Hope as the scholarship winner.

“Hope’s artwork is on exhibit at the Johnson Center for the Arts’ Student Art Show and is testimony to her artistic abilities,” Hopper said. “Her work is beautiful and demonstrates her attention to detail while providing outstanding depth to the subject material.”

Along with the prestige of being a Jean Lake Scholarship winner is a $1,000 scholarship award sponsored by the Troy Arts Council.

Hope expressed appreciation to the Troy Arts Council for the confidence shown in her with the awarding of the scholarship.

Hope said she was super excited to enter the competition for the prestigious Jean Lake Scholarship. Her excitement reached new heights when she was announced as the 2021 recipient.

Hope’s entries in the scholarship competition were from a collection of her favorite works.

Pam Smith, curator of the JCA’s Student Art Show, said she is very impressed with Hope’s artwork.

“Hope is very good at picking up on the details and reality in nature,” Smith said. “My favorite piece is the portrait of her granddad, such wonderful expression. I am also impressed with how Hope did most of the work on her portfolio on her own, very self -driven and motivated. I wish her the best in her future artistic endeavors.”

Hope said it seems that she has always been interested in art but, more seriously, going back to the sixth grade.

“As long as I can remember, I’ve liked to draw and anything from nature,” Hope said.  “I like color and working with different materials but I especially like working in charcoal. For the details, I use pencils.”

Hope’s subjects vary but her main subjects are animals, plants and people, perhaps in that order, she said, with a smile.

“I especially like birds; there are so many different kinds. I’ve seen several bobcats and they are fascinating, but, then, any wildlife is fascinating to me.”

Hope continued to express her appreciation to the Troy Arts Council for recognizing her with the 2021 Jean Lake Scholarship. The scholarship will be a stepping stone to the future she plans, including attending Auburn University and studying architecture.

“I am especially interested in house design,” she said. “After college, I will do a three-year internship in architecture. Then, one day, I would like to own an architecture business and design my own plantation-style home but somewhat modern. I’m looking forward to high school graduation, college and doing work that I enjoy. Art will always be a part of what I do.”