COMMUNITY FOUNDATION
CORNERSTONE
A triannual newsletter of the Blue River Community Foundation Spring 2018 Volume 12 Issue 1
Public Sculpture to Welcome Trails Users, Visitors to Downtown Shelbyville After the careful consideration of seven proposals from artists with exhibits worldwide, the Sculpture Selection Committee chose Blue River- Wind, Rain, and Water by the artist Mike Helbing to be permanently placed near the historic Porter Visitors Center near the entrance to Downtown Shelbyville. The sculpture will be installed by November 2018.
What’s Inside:
Celebrating 30 Years in 2018
BRCF Board Member Changes
Investing in Recreation
Scholarship Highlights
The artist was asked to incorporate the Blue River Recreational Trail at the site, along with the Blue River crossing and the importance of the site as a gateway to the City into the proposal for the sculpture. The sculpture should encourage people to get out of their cars and experience the art, the trail, and walk downtown. People will be able to walk through the sculpture as they follow the trail. Artist Mike Helbing describes his proposal as inspired by the theatrical thunderstorms in Indiana that give life to the river. The sculpture represents a thundercloud, rain, and the river basin of the Big Blue and Little Blue Rivers, which converge nearby. Trail users will follow the trail through the “rains” of the sculpture. Helbing knows this landscape well; although he now resides and makes a living as a sculptor in Chicago, he spent his childhood in Shelbyville. The completed sculpture will be created from stainless steel and be approximately forty feet in height. More information about Mr. Helbing and his sculptures may be found at www.helbingstudio.com. The process was made possible by a grant from the Marks- DePrez Community Arts Fund, which provided funding for the artists’ proposals. The models were evaluated by a fifteen-member selection committee
that included the Blue River Community Foundation, which contributed $50,000 to the project; City officials and planners, who provided $50,000; Shelby County Tourism, contributing $25,000; the Shelby County Chamber of Commerce; Mainstreet Shelbyville, Inc; Shelby Arts Alliance; and nearby business owners. Private donations complete the $150,000 budget. The seven proposals have been on public display at City hall since February 1st. The criteria included artistic and aesthetic properties; the context of the site and how the art incorporated the themes of the river and trail; maintenance and sustainability. The sculpture is highlighted in the recently adopted Public Art Plan, which identifies several goals and future projects related to public art, community development, and opportunities for collaboration. The Public Art Plan may be found at http://www. cityofshelbyvillein.com/departments/ planning-building/planning-documents/. com/departments/planning-building/ planning-documents/.
BOARD MEMBER UPDATES
Jeff Beaty
Carmen Hawk
Tom Rosenfeld
Jeff Beaty is BRCF’s Board President for 2018. He has served on the Foundation’s Board since 2013 and for ten years on the Scholarship Committee; most recently as committee chair. He was also involved with the initial fundraising efforts for the Northeastern Hometown Community Fund, which was established in 2008. He attended Purdue University and IUPUI and currently serves as Vice-President of C-Tech, Inc. A life-long resident of Shelby County, Jeff and his wife Donna, are active community volunteers. For instance, Jeff is a former board member and past officer for Habitat for Humanity, a board member and treasurer for Major Health Partners, and both are very active at First Christian Church. The Foundation is excited to welcome Carmen Hawk to the Board of Directors. Carmen is an active member of our Scholarship Committee and will assume the role of committee chair for the 2018-19 academic year. As one of two Shelby County 2000 Lilly Endowment Community Scholars, she is the second LECS recipient to serve on our board. She is a graduate of Purdue University where she obtained her B.S. in Agriculture. As the Co-Owner and Operator of Nigh Heritage Farms, Carmen and her husband, Andrew, reside in the northeast area of Shelby County. They are busy parents of three children: Jacob, 11; Abby, 9; and Graham, 2.
A special thanks to Tom Rosenfeld for his tenure as a director of the board. While serving his nine year term on the board, he presided as Vice-President (2014 & 2015) and President (2016 & 2017). Tom also served on the Governance Committee since 2005; the last five years as committee chair. He was instrumental in the Foundation’s Lilly Endowment Gift VI Match Campaign which grew BRCF’s endowment fund for community granting by nearly $750,000. Always willing to volunteer, Tom was an invaluable BRCF representative at various community events. We are grateful for Tom’s leadership, hard work, and commitment to the Foundation.
BRCF INVESTING IN RECREATION IN OUR RURAL COMMUNITIES Blue River Community Foundation has supported a number of recreational endeavors over the years. To continue these efforts, BRCF will invest $50,000 each into park spaces for the communities of Fairland, Flat Rock and Morristown. These grants are the result of working with local groups in each community who believe providing residents with quality parks and recreational opportunities improves the quality of life in their towns. Below are renderings of each community park.
MORRISTOWN PARK FAIRLAND PARK
FLAT ROCK PARK
Musical Playground Playground
Gates
Shelter House
Trail Loop
Basketball Court
Splash Pad
In collaboration with: • Lambda Chi Sorority in Fairland • Fairland Town Council • Brandywine Township Trustee
In collaboration with: • Flat Rock Citizens Committee • Flat Rock Volunteer Fire Department • Southwestern Hometown Committee
In collaboration with: • Morristown Visionary Committee • Morristown Town Council • Northeastern Hometown Committee
WALDRON MURAL PROJECTCT The Waldron Area Hometown Community Fund Advisory Committee and BRCF are asking local artists to submit entries for a mural that will be created in downtown Waldron. Proposals should reflect on the feel of a family friendly, small town. The winning design will be awarded $2,500 to purchase supplies and install the mural by July 1st. Detailed information on how to enter is available at blueriverfoundation.com or by contacting Lynne Ensminger at 317.392.7955 ext. 103 or lensminger@blueriverfoundation.com.
EMMY WENDLING NAMED 2018 LILLY ENDOWMENT COMMUNITY SCHOLAR The 2018 Shelby County Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship recipient is Emerson (Emmy) J. Wendling. Emmy is the daughter of Albert and Tonya Wendling. She will graduate in May from Southwestern High School and plans to attend Butler University to pursue a degree in pharmacy. At the time of application, Emmy was ranked second in her graduating class and her GPA was 4.4 on a 4.0 scale. She is involved in several extracurricular activities including; Fellowship of Christian Athletes, National Honor Society, Peer Mentoring, 4-H, basketball, cheerleading, and softball. In addition, she is an active community volunteer who has served in various capacities for Mt. Pisgah Baptist Church, Hospice, Waldron Elementary, and as a student member on the Southwestern Schools Strategic Planning Committee. Emmy has also served as a Senate Page for Senator Jean Leising. Besides her numerous activities, Emmy was selected to represent Southwestern High School at the Richard G. Lugar Symposium for Tomorrow’s Leaders in 2016. She was also named a 2017 recipient of the Rising Star of Indiana Award. This program administered by the Indiana Association of Principals is designed to honor high school juniors for their academic achievement. BRCF also congratulates the students listed below as 2018 Lilly Endowment Scholarship Finalists. Due to their exceptional academic and personal achievements, these five students will receive a four-year renewable scholarship from one of the 81 funds administered by BRCF. • Bryce Asher, Shelbyville High School • Kelsie Bullard, Southwestern High School • Emily Coffey, Shelbyville High School • Reid Monhollen, Triton Central High School • Alivia (Mattie) Schornick, Southwestern High School
Pictured: Emmy Wendling in action on the basketball court along with Shelby County’s 2000 Lilly Scholar, BRCF Board Member, and IHSAA Official, Carmen Hawk. *photo courtesy of Chad Williams Photography
BRCF SCHOLARSHIP HIGHLIGHTS The number of BRCF scholarship applications submitted in 2018 set an all time high. This increase demonstrates the financial assistance that local students pursuing post-secondary education credentials are consistently searching to find. To help fill this need, the Foundation currently administers over 80 scholarship funds established by generous donors who are passionate about supporting students at all age levels. In the past year, BRCF is grateful for three new scholarship funds:
Bill & Carolyn English
• English Family Scholarship Fund - This fund was established by the English Family to pay tribute to Bill and
Carolyn English. Due to the limited number of scholarships available for current college students, Bill established this fund to support juniors or seniors enrolled at Purdue University.
• Dorine Wolsiefer Business Scholarship Fund - The children of Dorine Wolsiefer created this fund in her memory. Dorine spent her entire professional career in banking and was an active volunteer in the community. This scholarship supports a female student, majoring in business at an accredited Indiana college or university.
Dorine Wolsiefer
Morristown Chapter #316 Order of the Eastern Star
• Morristown Chapter #316 Order of the Eastern Star Scholarship Fund - Before consolidating their chapter with the Naamah Chapter #73 in Shelbyville, this long standing organization decided to establish a scholarship fund at BRCF to keep their tradition of supporting Morristown students furthering their education alive...forever.
Scholarship
BRCF SCHOLARSHIP WORKSHOP
BRCF will once again be hosting Summer Scholarship Workshops for the Class of 2019 on the following dates: • June 25th 1:00-2:30 p.m. • June 28th 10:00 -11:30 a.m. The workshop is open to all Shelby County students on track to graduate in 2019. Registration for the workshops will open April 1st at blueriverfoundation.com. Students can learn more about this opportunity at BRCF Scholarship presentations held at their high school this spring, or by contacting Julie Alvis at 317.392.7955 ext.102 or jalvis@blueriverfoundation.com.
Blue River Community Foundation 54 W. Broadway, Suite 1, Shelbyville, Indiana 46176 T: 317.392.7955 F: 317.392.4545 brf@blueriverfoundation.com www.blueriverfoundation.com
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06.27.18 BRCF ANNUAL MEETING
SUPPORTING STUDENTS & EDUCATION In addition to supporting students reach their educational goals through scholarships, BRCF is committed to a variety of educational endeavors. Below are just two examples of numerous BRCF administered funds that support educational initiatives in Shelby County.
• Chase Hubler Memorial Fund Jill Coffey established this fund in 2008 as a memorial tribute to her son, Chase. Chase passed away as a result of an automobile accident in 2006. He was a senior at Shelbyville High School where he was president of the Japanese Club and had traveled to Shelbyville’s sister City, Kambara, Japan, as an exchange student in 2005. Because of Chase’s passion to learn a foreign language and experience world cultures, Jill decided to create this fund to help financially support other SHS students traveling abroad to keep this passion alive. Students who express an interest in participating in the SHS world language department’s every-other-year European field trip are eligible to apply for the competitive award. To learn more about this opportunity, please visit blueriverfoundation.com or students are encouraged to talk to their SHS world language teacher.
• Shelbyville Central Education Foundation Shelbyville Central Education Foundation supports and promotes innovative ideas in the classroom. Many times teachers have creative concepts they want to pursue, but due to lack of funding cannot implement their ideas. The purpose of SCEF is to help fill that gap. Blue River Community Foundation is proud to partner with SCS on this new resource for the corporation by administering their fund. To read more about this opportunity, or to donate, visit shelbycs.org/scsfoundation.
Daniela Joseph is the 2018 recipient Emmy Wendling in action ofPictured: the Chase Hubler Memorial Award. on the court alongHigh with She is a basketball senior at Shelbyville Shelbyand County’s 2000 Scholar, School traveled to Lilly Spain and BRCFover Board Member, IHSAA Italy spring break and on the SHS Official, Carmendepartment Hawk. world language trip. *photo courtsey of Chad Williams Photography
Are you interested in supporting educational opportunities in your community? Contact BRCF to learn about the many options available to help meet your philanthropic goals.