Gilpin art student wins $25,000 scholarship

A Colorado first - Tess Brownson

Lynn Volkens

05/22/2008 - Gilpin students aren’t allowed to use cell phones in classrooms, so when senior Tess Brownson’s phone buzzed during English class, she ignored it. The caller was persistent, repeatedly calling back, until Brownson asked her teacher to make an exception so she could see what was so important. “I thought someone had died,” Brownson confessed.

  The caller was Brownson’s counselor at the Art Institute of Colorado in Denver, the school Brownson will be attending after graduation. The counselor had such good news, it just couldn’t wait. Brownson had won a National Art Institutes scholarship – of $25,000!  “I’m the first person in Colorado to ever win the National scholarship,” Brownson explained.

  Back in February, Brownson had submitted the required artwork to enter the scholarship competition. She was to create a poster interpreting the theme, “Life is better with art in it.” Her poster depicted feet in shoes, lots of them. Feet in the background wore colorless bland ordinary shoes. The feet in the foreground (that might have been Brownson’s as she wears unique shoes, herself) were sporting tennies that had been painted in bright colors and designs. Beneath the slogan, “Life is better with art in it,” Brownson had added, “So step out of the ordinary!” Her entry beat out 49 other local entries and went on to the national competition where judges liked her originality. They chose Brownson’s poster over 36 other entries. There were twelve winners in all, said Brownson. They’re to be made into a calendar and distributed to schools next year.

  Brownson’s artistic talents are no secret at Gilpin School, where she’s been a student since third grade. Gilpinites have also seen her paintings and sculpture at the county fair. She works in all kinds of media, but likes digital best, she said. After attending the Art Institute, with a focus on media arts and animation, Brownson hopes to find work as a character designer in the video game or music industries. “I may move to California,” she said, “because that’s where the big companies are.” She said she creates things all the time and has already designed numerous characters, some for her online comic strip. She also likes traditional fine arts, favoring oils for painting because they’re so smooth to work with.

  Brownson will travel to Washington D.C. to collect her scholarship on June 25^th. “I’m actually going to get a giant check,” she said with amusement. While there, she’ll meet the president of the national chain of Art Institutes and the president of Americans for the Arts, a national organization that supports the scholarship program. She may also meet some congressmen, she said.

  Brownson has won two other art scholarships. At $3,000 each, they bring her scholarship total to $31,000. To see Brownson’s award winning poster, go to artinsitutes.edu/Competitions/poster_finalists. To see her most recent work, just check in at Gilpin School’s gym. Brownson is painting the school’s Eagle mascot, in gigantic proportion, breaking through the wall. The mural is the Class of 2008’s parting gift to the school.