MoCo Arts is thrilled to name Will Huntley as the first recipient of the Arts for Life Scholarship – A scholarship fund established to honor Maich
Gardner. He will receive a significant scholarship, allowing him to take a full schedule of dance and theatre classes at MoCo Arts in the 2016 – 2017 school year.
Established in 2014 by Ed Tomey, the fund was matched by the Hoffman Family Foundation, supported by more than 45 individual donations and then greatly enhanced by a generous gift from the Gardner-Grinnell Charitable Fund, honoring longtime MoCo board member Maich Gardner. Maich’s kind, generous, thoughtful voice has provided wisdom to MoCo for many years. Her enthusiastic support of the children, the process, and the art educators has brought joy to all. Maich believes passionately in MoCo’s mission of ‘transforming lives through movement and creative expression’ and the fund ensures the kinds of personal and artistic opportunities that MoCo offers are able to flourish and reach ever deeper into the community.
Maich Gardner and Ed Tomey with Will Huntley, 2016 recipient of MoCo’s Arts for Life Scholarship.
“When I was young I was in love with theatre and music, but my family could not afford training,” says Tomey. “There was not a MoCo around, and I wish there had been. MoCo Arts is an enlightening, lifting, and safe place. If there had been a MoCo, there are things I could have discovered about myself that I didn’t know existed.”
“The Arts for Life Scholarship is given to a deserving student for whom the award will make a real difference,” says Reagan Messer, Executive Director and Artistic Director of Dance at MoCo Arts. “Will is a positive role model, he exhibits a strong work ethic in the studios, commitment, dedication and ability. He is taking full advantage of what an arts education can do in a young person’s life. He is fully committed to both theatre and dance at MoCo Arts.”
This scholarship will be awarded annually, helping make the arts accessible for all, and the impact of Maich’s legacy will continue to grow. MoCo is still accepting donations to the Arts for Life Fund.
