Arts foundation announces scholarship winners

The Bigfork Center for the Performing Arts Foundation named Bigfork’s Daniel Mitchke and Merle Robinson of Whitefish as the 2013 recipients of the scholarship week awards. Each student will receive a $300 dollar grant.

Christian Johnson, an original member of the Mission Mountain Wood Band, is the instructor for both of these recipients. Robinson is an advanced student who will be instructed in guitar, mandolin and four-string banjo. Mitchke is a junior at Bigfork High School and, except for some lessons at the age of 10; he is self-taught and considers himself to be a beginner. He said he was very thankful to be able to study guitar under the tutelage of a talent such as Christian Johnson.

The BCPAF holds their annual scholarship week in January as part of their mission to sponsor, support and nurture the performing arts. The primary purpose of the scholarship program is to cultivate theatre culture and encourage an appreciation of the arts among young people throughout the valley.

The students will perform “Slaughterhouse 5” on Jan. 9-10, 2013 at 7 p.m. in the BCPA. This year’s performance will be produced by the Wolfpack Theatre Company, a theatrical group from Glacier High School in Kalispell. According to Producer Ivanna Fritz, this will be the first opportunity the group has had to perform on the “big stage.” Tickets are $7 for adults and $5 for senior citizens and students. They are available at Glacier High School and Photo Video Plus in Kalispell.

In an effort to support youth involvement in the arts, the center is available rent-free for one week each year to students who want to share their talent from the stage.

Assisting with the cost of busing students to local productions or to theatre workshops held throughout the state is another aspect of the scholarship program. Eighteen of Glacier High School’s Thespian Troupe are the beneficiaries of a $900 dollar scholarship to help cover the cost of attending the Montana Thespian Festival in Missoula in February.

According to Fritz, the performance at the Bigfork Center “is just the opportunity we need to try our skills on the big stage before competing on the University of Montana campus in the State competition.”

The foundation’s board of directors also offers outreach scholarship funds to assist with the cost of lessons in dance, musical instrument and voice.

This year the foundation has broadened its artistic scope to include a visual arts exhibit as well. All of the Bigfork Schools, preschool through 12th-grade, are participating in a nationwide arts program called Reflections.

This is the third year that the Bigfork PTA has sponsored local participation in this nationwide contest. The theme for this year’s exhibit is “The Magic of the Moment.” The exhibit, along with a reception, will be held at the BCPA lobby on Tuesday, Jan. 8, 2013 from 7-8:30 p.m.

“The confluence of the performing and visual arts makes for a wonderful synergy that we would like to encourage,” the foundation’s president, Ardi Aiken, said. “Now that the center has a much larger, more accommodating lobby, it is our hope that it will become a place for community gatherings such as this.”