During Arts in the Schools Month, The Marisa Tufaro Foundation is proud to announce six students from Middlesex County elementary and middle schools have been awarded scholarships to attend a weeklong summer art camp at Rutgers University’s Zimmerli Art Museum.
This year’s recipients are:
- Jasneet Bhupal, Woodland Intermediate School, Middlesex Boro
- Alexandria Conover, Knollwood Elementary School, Piscataway
- Bobby Magliulo, Kennedy Elementary School, South Plainfield
- Samantha Morgan, Conackamack Middle School, Piscataway
- Phoebe Rojas, Mauger Middle School, Middlesex Boro
- Gavin Trinajstic, Woodland Intermediate School, Middlesex Boro
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The camp will run for five consecutive weeks from July 1 through August 2. Scholarship recipients can elect to participate in half-day sessions (mornings or afternoons) for any one of those weeks from a full menu of offerings.
The museum’s summer art camp, which began nearly two decades ago, traditionally adds new classes each year.
The scholarship opportunities have been made possible through donations to The Marisa Tufaro Foundation from a member of the Greater Middlesex Conference Baseball Coaches Association, who wishes to remain anonymous, and other generous benefactors.
The Zimmerli Art Museum’s Summer Art Camp allows artists (ages 7 to 14) of various ability levels to explore their creative side and develop new skills alongside wonderful teaching artists in a unique setting only an art museum can provide. Children often find inspiration in the museum’s collection as they explore the galleries.
According to Rutgers University’s website, “During the hot days of summer, the Zimmerli is the place to be for budding young artists. Each year, new classes are added to stimulate, challenge and delight both veteran and newcomers who participate in the program. The Zimmerli continues to offer its popular classes in painting, drawing, pastels, watercolors, sculpture, and an art ‘sampler’ class.”
Born with a complex cardiac defect, Marisa survived six open-heart surgeries and a heart transplant before succumbing in 2017 to a rare form of cancer following a valiant battle. She was just 13 years old.
Despite being hospitalized for more than two years and maintaining hundreds of doctor’s appointments, Marisa was an Edison Township Public Schools honor roll student involved in myriad extracurricular activities who lived a vibrant life that inspired.
Established six and a half years ago, The Marisa Tufaro Foundation has made a profound impact, donating more than $300,000 and spearheading multiple community initiatives to fulfill its mission of assisting pediatric patients and other children in need throughout the greater Middlesex County area.
The nonprofit has also donated thousands of toys, nonperishable food items, winter jackets, baby supplies, and other items upon which it has placed no monetary value.
In addition, The Marisa Tufaro Foundation has awarded $29,500 in college academic scholarships to 42 exceptional Middlesex County high school students who advance the nonprofit’s mission.
Recipients of the art scholarship share Marisa’s passion and talent for art. She honed her craft during summer camps at Rutgers University’s Zimmerli Art Museum, where her artwork was once displayed at an exhibit.
Marisa’s ambition was to attend an art college, and while God’s plan did not allow her to make it to one, her work did.
A piece Marisa constructed with a New York City School of Visual Arts graduate student during an art therapy session at New York Presbyterian’s Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital was displayed at the “Your Turn” exhibit at the college’s Flatiron Gallery in Manhattan a month after her untimely passing.
Edison High School baseball coach Vinnie Abene, past president of the Greater Middlesex Conference Baseball Coaches Association, said a coach from the league called him immediately after Marisa’s untimely passing in 2017 to propose the idea of an art scholarship.
“There are a lot of great guys in our association and there were a lot of ideas that were thrown around at the time,” said Abene. “There was one particular coach that was really moved by what he saw (at a memorial service) with the amount of art projects that Marisa had accomplished and created. That truly inspired him to have a unique idea. He called me the same night and told me what his idea was, and he certainly made it a point that he wanted to keep it anonymous because it wasn’t about him. He just wanted to make sure that some worthy students would use the money toward an art scholarship.”
To learn more about the Zimmerli Art Museum and its collections and program offerings, please visit https://zimmerli.rutgers.edu/