Girls Write Now is honored that The Lotos Foundation has chosen our mentee, Caroline Lin, to be a Louis Padovano Scholarship Recipient. The Lotos Foundation has been a steadfast supporter of Girls Write Now since 2008. Below are Caroline’s remarks:
My name is Caroline Lin, and I am a high school senior and second-year mentee at Girls Write Now.
As New York’s first and only writing and mentoring organization for girls, Girls Write Now has been working for almost 20 years to develop the next generation of artists and writers. For nearly half of our history, Girls Write Now has been proud to call the Lotos Foundation an investor in our mission. We are grateful for your continued support in 2017, as Girls Write Now rolls out a growth plan to serve double the number of emerging writers!
Girls Write Now matches high school girls like me with amazing women professional writers and digital media makers as their personal mentors. We work one-to-one with our mentors each week, and we meet as a community for workshops each month, building a multi-genre portfolio, winning hundreds of writing awards, presenting our original work at major cultural venues, and publishing it in Girls Write Now’s anthology and in outlets all over the world.
During my time as a Girls Write Now mentee, I have not only grown as a writer, but I have lived Girls Write Now’s theme this year: Rise Speak Change. I have have found my literary voice and grown into a confident speaker. At the same time, I see my fellow mentees rise to new heights, becoming more understanding, innovative versions of themselves with the help and inspiration of their mentors. Perhaps most importantly, the literary, digital media, and moral lessons that we learn at Girls Write Now are ingrained in us, equipping us with the tools necessary to be the agents of change in our own lives.
I am so grateful to Girls Write Now and to the Lotos Foundation for providing me with this invaluable opportunity. Thank you.
THE LOTOS FOUNDATION TO AWARD $89,000 IN PRIZES AND SCHOLARSHIPS TO YOUNG STUDENTS AND ARTISTS IN NEW YORK CITY
New York, NY – The 2017 Lotos Foundation Prize will be awarded to five, New York City, emerging artists for their accomplishments and exceptional talent. In a ceremony at The Lotos Club on April 5, 2017, Theatre Director, Kristine Haruna Lee; Journalist, Wesley Lowery; Theatre Lyricist, Alexander Sage Oyen; Dance Choreographer, Claudia Faye Schreier and Photographer, Kate Stone will each receive $5,000 from The Lotos Foundation.
The Lotos Foundation selects prize winners from nominees provided by prominent figures on the New York cultural scene. The 2017 nominators are Mia Yoo, Artistic Director of LaMama Experimental Theatre Club; Joy Reid, News Anchor MSNBC; Terri and Tim Childs, Childs Management Corp.; Virginia Johnson, Artistic Director, Dance Theatre of Harlem; and Stephen Shore, Photographer, Bard College.
The Lotos Foundation Prize is unique in that, each year, recipients are drawn from a thriving cross-section of creative artists in dance, film, music, theatre, visual arts and writing. With these annual prizes, the Foundation demonstrates its determination to ensure the continued vibrancy of New York City as a center of artistic ferment, a place where talented young people can work and seek inspiration.
At the same ceremony, The Lotos Foundation will honor the following eight New York City organizations for their outstanding educational programing in the fine and performing arts: Alumni & Friends of LaGuardia High School for Music and Arts & Performing Arts Dance Studio – Live Accompany Program for Dance Classes; Brooklyn Tech Alumni Foundation Genetics Laboratory and Research Center; Frank Sinatra School of the Arts Drama Program; Girls Write Now Mentoring Program; New York Hall of Science Career Ladder; Opportunity Music Project Summer Camp; Studio in a School Studio Intensives and Tribeca Film Institute Tribeca Film Fellows. Each will receive a $8,000 Louis Padovano Scholarship from the Foundation.
The Louis Padovano Scholarship offers scholarships to programs, which identify and nurture talented and serious students of dance, film, music, science, theatre, visual arts and writing. The programs we honor are offered free of charge to students selected from across New York City’s diverse populations and neighborhoods. These programs also provide their students with both structure and a safe haven in which to thrive.
Each year, The Lotos Foundation reaffirms its commitment to safeguarding New York’s position as a vital hub of learning by offering these Prizes and Scholarships.
About The Lotos Foundation
The Lotos Foundation is celebrating its 17th anniversary as an organization supporting gifted young artists and scientists. Our annual Prizes and Scholarships represent an investment in the future of New York City as a cultural mecca.