For immediate release — April 6, 2012
(DALLAS) — Fifteen budding artists took center stage at an awards ceremony held April 5 by the Dallas County Community College District Foundation to recognize student talents in music, writing and the visual arts. Works by the visual arts honorees were displayed and stage performances were presented by the musical and writing awardees during the event at El Centro College.
The Cecil Wallace Fordham Award in Visual Arts and the Alice Jones Berding Award in Music were awarded to one student at each of DCCCD’s seven colleges. One student from the district was awarded the Eleanor Jones Award in Creative Writing. The awards are made possible through endowments donated by Eleanor and George Jones and their family through the DCCCD Foundation, and each carries a cash award amount of $500.
"DCCCD is so appreciative that Mrs. Eleanor Jones and her children and grandchildren have continued the tradition of honoring their family and our students through these scholarships," said Betheny Reid, associate vice chancellor for development and president of the DCCCD Foundation. “The family’s dedication to creative and performing arts survives in the works and dreams of these outstanding students. Gifts such as these are a lasting legacy that honor both the benefactors and the recipients.”
The Cecil Wallace Fordham Award in Visual Arts was endowed in 1979 by Eleanor Fordham Jones and her husband, George Rather Jones, in memory of her father. The award honors Cecil Fordham, an automotive mechanical engineer and veteran of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, who built furniture as a hobby and had a lifelong appreciation for beautiful design. The award is given annually to an outstanding visual arts major at each of the seven DCCCD colleges. This academic year’s visual arts honorees (with hometown, DCCCD college and major) are:
- Andrew Evan Davis of Farmers Branch, Brookhaven College, fine arts;
- Eugene Sarmiento of Cedar Hill, Cedar Valley College, art/printmaking;
- William Benitez of Mesquite, Eastfield College, fine arts;
- Brian Burkhardt of Irving, El Centro College, art;
- Alexis A. Brigmon of Arlington, Mountain View College, art;
- Abraham Cobaxin of Irving, North Lake College, art; and
- Rachel A. Schwarz of Sachse, Richland College, art.
The Alice Jones Berding Award in Music honors its namesake for her years of teaching piano both privately and in Dallas schools. The award was established in 1977 through a gift from Berding’s brother, George Rather Jones, and his wife, Eleanor Fordham Jones. The family continued to make the award after Mr. Jones’ death in 1981. Awarded annually to an outstanding music major at each of the seven DCCCD colleges, with preference to piano students, this academic year’s honorees were:
- Eunjin An of Carrollton, Brookhaven College, music (piano);
- Alexander P. Lopez of Ovilla, Cedar Valley College, musical theatre (piano and voice);
- Brandon Christopher Price of Wylie, Eastfield College, music (percussion);
- Donnie W. Moore, El Centro College, music (voice);
- Andre Echeverria of Grand Prairie, Mountain View College, music (piano);
- Ruifen Zhang of Irving, North Lake College, music (voice); and
- Desiree Gonzalez of Mesquite, Richland College, music education and therapy.
The Eleanor Jones Award in Creative Writing, established in 2002 in honor of Mrs. Jones’ 75th birthday by her family, is presented annually to one DCCCD creative writing student who excels in prose or poetry. This academic year’s honoree is Franklin D. Bargainer of Irving, North Lake College, creative writing.
For more information, contact Kathye Hammontree at (214) 378-1536.
See biographical sketches of the awardees below.
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Press contact: Kathye Hammontree
214-378-1536;
khammontree@dcccd.edu
or Ann Hatch
214-378-1819;
ahatch@dcccd.edu
Biographical Sketches of 2011-2012 DCCCD Berding Fordham Jones Arts Awards
Cecil Wallace Fordham Award in Visual Arts
The award is given annually to an outstanding visual arts major at each of the seven DCCCD colleges. This academic year’s visual arts honorees (with hometown, DCCCD college and major) are:
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Andrew Evan Davis • Farmers Branch • Brookhaven College • Fine Arts
Brookhaven College student Davis would like not only to be a professional artist but also to teach college-level art courses. Davis is majoring in fine arts and includes as his specialties printmaking, painting and drawing. His event display pieces comprised three woodcuts titled “Red Wall,” “Structure One” and “Structure Two.”
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Eugene Sarmiento • Cedar Hill • Cedar Valley College • Art/Printmaking
Sarmiento, who is pursuing an associate degree with an emphasis in art at Cedar Valley College, wants to be a professional artist and art educator at the high school or college level. He also hopes to pursue a bachelor’s degree in printmaking. His display works were a woodcut/watercolor titled “Wonderment” and two hand-colored monotypes called “Man of My Word” and “Birthday Boy.”
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William Benitez • Mesquite • Eastfield College • Fine Arts
Currently pursuing an associate degree with an emphasis in art at Eastfield College, Benitez specializes in painting with watercolor. He submitted three untitled works of watercolor on paper for the awards event.
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Brian Burkhardt • Irving • El Centro College • Art
Interested in watercolor, drawing and figure drawing, Burkhardt is an art major at El Centro College. He took art classes in high school and also is self-taught (he watches television art shows). Burkhardt dreams of exhibiting his work in galleries and teaching art. His immediate educational goals include finishing his associate degree at El Centro College and continuing his art education at an art institute or university. He submitted three acrylic prints for his display works titled “Sunrise,” “Collage Landscape” and “Forgotten.”
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Alexis A. Brigmon • Arlington • Mountain View College • Art
Multimedia artist Brigmon would like to pursue interior design to create spaces that “not only use space more effectively but are enjoyable, appealing and sustainable.” Her exhibited work included a watercolor-and-pastel work titled “Family,” a yarn-and-wire work titled “Something Sweet” and “In the Car,” a silver gelatin print. She is pursuing an art degree at North Lake College and works part time as a statistics and pharmacy assistance specialist.
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Abraham Cobaxin • Irving • North Lake College • Art
A native of Mexico, Cobaxin already is a working professional artist and freelance photographer who paints, sculpts and creates ceramic pieces. Interested in graphic arts as well, he plans to develop his artistic craft in a variety of media and eventually work as a private art teacher. He exhibited for the awards event an acrylic on canvas titled “Día de los Muertos” (Day of the Dead), a smoke-fired clay piece titled “Spirit of a Tiger” and “Ancient Guardian,” a raku-fired clay piece.
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Rachel A. Schwarz • Sachse • Richland College • Art
Richland College student Schwarz plans to work in studio arts and teach art in middle or high school. She hopes to continue her education by earning a bachelor’s degree and also to exhibit her work as a professional artist. Her exhibit pieces included “Unbridled Nature” in found sticks and hay wire, “The Dance” (oil and objects on canvas) and “L’Idéale (the Ideal), oil on textured canvas.
Alice Jones Berding Award in Music
This award is given annually to an outstanding music major at each of the seven DCCCD colleges. This academic year’s honorees (with hometown, DCCCD college and major) are:
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Eunjin An • Carrollton • Brookhaven College • Music (piano)
A native of South Korea, An began playing the piano at the age of six and decided he wanted to be a pianist at 15. A Brookhaven College music major, he hopes eventually to earn a doctoral degree in music and become a music professor and concert pianist. He chose as his concert selections “Grandes Etudes de Paganini” by Franz Liszt; “Piano Sonata Op. 3 No. 2” by Ludwig von Beethoven; and “Prelude and Fugue in A Minor” (originally for organ) by Johann Sebastian Bach.
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Alexander P. Lopez • Ovilla • Cedar Valley College • Musical Theater (piano and voice)
A self-taught pianist and vocalist who sang in his church choir, Lopez is majoring in musical theater at Cedar Valley College. He performed as his musical selections “Vaghissima Sembianza” by Stephano Donandy and “Free” (from “A Funny thing Happened on the Way to the Forum”) by Stephen Sondheim.
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Brandon Christopher Price • Wylie • Eastfield College • Music (percussion)
Eastfield College music major Price has played the drums since the age of four and began his formal musical training beginning in the sixth grade. He hopes to continue his education in music, tour nationally and internationally, and eventually produce music. He chose as his performance selection “Moanin’” by Art Blakey.
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Donnie W. Moore • El Centro College • Music (voice)
Moore has performed with the Dallas Opera Chorus for 13 years, the Dallas Bach Society for five years and the Fort Worth Opera Chorus. He is pursuing vocal music and paralegal studies at El Centro College. He hopes to continue his musical career with the Dallas Opera, performing in and around the Dallas area, and to use his paralegal education to secure a corporate in-house position. For his recital pieces, he performed “Vedro Mentr’io Sospiro” by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and “Le Colibri, Op. 2 No. 7” by Ernest Chausson.
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Andre Echeverria • Grand Prairie • Mountain View College • Music (piano)
Echeverria, originally from Guatemala, is a pianist and music major at Mountain View College. He plans to continue his education and to earn bachelor’s and master’s degrees in music composition. He selected as his performance piece Ludwig von Beethoven’s “Sonata Op. 2 No. 1 – Allegro.”
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Ruifen Zhang • Irving • North Lake College • Music (voice)
A native of China, Zhang is pursuing vocal music and English for Speakers of Other Languages at North Lake College. He chose as his performance pieces “Valse Op. 64 No. 2” by Frédéric Chopin and “Piano Sonatina in C” by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
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Desiree Gonzalez • Mesquite • Richland College • Music Education and Therapy
A music education major at Richland College, Gonzalez played with the North Mesquite middle school and high school bands for seven years and would like to teach music therapy as a future career. For her performance piece on the B-flat clarinet, she selected “Concerto for B Flat Clarinet, Movement 1” by Carl Maria von Weber.
Eleanor Fordham Jones Award in Creative Writing
Presented annually to one DCCCD creative writing student who excels in prose or poetry, this year’s award was presented to:
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Franklin D. Bargainer • Irving • North Lake College • Creative Writing
A creative writing major at North Lake College, Franklin Bargainer would like to write children’s books. He submitted three pieces of prose to represent his work: “Life on the Farm,” “The Purse” and “The Light in the Window,” plus a poem titled “To Emelie.”
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