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Recently, the start of the fall semester at the Winchester campus of Bluegrass Community & Technical College occurred.

However, there was even more reason for happiness at the college’s Rolling Hills Lane location.

The Winchester Art Guild Scholarship, developed in conjunction with the Bluegrass Community & Technical College Foundation, was officially agreed upon,and thus is set to benefit students interested in the arts.

“One of the Art Guild’s mission statements is to reach out and foster and encourage young, budding artists and students who are in the arts”, said Kenny Howard, president of Winchester Art Guild. “We reached out to [BCTC] because we want to keep this local. We want to benefit local youth.”

Along with Howard, representing the Winchester Art Guild were vice president Ginny Goppelt, secretary Sheila McCord, and treasurer Elizabeth Chalfant.

Bruce Manley represented the school as campus director.

With a background in education, Manley mentioned that he hoped to benefit students further.

“I’m just appreciative of Kenny [and] his leadership [for] seeing the value of education in our community,” Manley said. “When we help one student, we help everybody. It’s going to make a difference.”

Specifically, the Winchester Art Guild Scholarship Agreement will provide $600 for a student.

However, the agreement states, “At any time, additional contributions can be made to the principal of the Fund by the Donor or other individuals, organizations, or business entities.”

In technical language, the donor refers to the Winchester Art Guild.

A scholarship committee appointed by the president of Bluegrass Community and Technical College will determine the recipient of the scholarship, with monies able to be used for tuition, books, fees, materials, tools, or other expenses that would further a student’s academic needs and studies.

The scholarship is intended for a student with a GPA of 3.0 or higher on a 4.0 scale, who demonstrates a financial need, is a resident of Clark County, and is registered in an associate of arts degree plan.

While BCTC is well-known for its studies in various technical and vocational fields, it also provides coursework in art and art history, humanities, and other fine arts and humanities subjects.

Manley expressed gratitude for the opportunity to work with other organizations.

“We encourage anyone, if they want to establish a scholarship, to know that we’re here to further this community and further education right here in Winchester and Clark County,” he said. “It starts with great partnerships.”

Howard adds that he sees this year’s scholarship as just the beginning.

“This will be a yearly scholarship that the Winchester Art Guild does,” Howard said. “Our leadership at a meeting unanimously voted to do this.”