Sayreville Middle School student receives Tufaro Foundation art scholarship

The Marisa Tufaro Foundation is honored to announce that Cameren Gorrell of Sayreville Middle School in Sayreville has been selected as one of five students from five different Middlesex County schools to receive a scholarship to attend the Rutgers University Zimmerli Art Museum summer camp.

The other scholarship recipients include Dana Abbey of Herbert Hoover Middle School, Kwadwo Boateng of James Monroe Elementary School, Robert Dudash of Woodrow Wilson Middle School and Varsha Madhusudhanan of Woodbrook Elementary School.

The second annual Marisa Tufaro Memorial Arts Scholarship has been made possible through donations to The Marisa Tufaro Foundation on behalf of a member of the Greater Middlesex Conference Baseball Coaches Association and others who wish to remain anonymous.

The scholarship entitles the students to attend a weeklong art camp this summer at the Zimmerli, where Marisa previously honed her craft and where her artwork was once displayed at an exhibit.

Marisa died on Jan. 30, 2017 after complications from a heart transplant developed into a rare form of stage IV cancer, to which she succumbed following a valiant fight. Marisa was born with a complex cardiac defect that required six open-heart surgeries. Despite keeping hundreds of doctor’s appointments and being hospitalized for more than two years, Marisa lived a vibrant life that inspired.

The mission of the foundation established in her loving memory is to help children in need throughout the greater Middlesex County area.

Cameren has always had a love for art. He has a kind heart, is willing to share or help a friend, possesses a fun personality and is always smiling. Cameren has shown through his art work that he continues to expand his knowledge and allows his goals to take him to new heights. Art has been a wonderful vehicle for Cameren’s self-expression.

The Zimmerli Summer Art Camp allows artists of various ability levels to interact and study with some of New Jersey’s best teaching artists. Wes Sherman, who holds a Masters of Fine Arts degree from Rutgers University’s Mason Gross School of the Arts and is a highly successful independent artist, heads the Summer Art Camp faculty.

“During the hot days of summer, the Zimmerli is the place to be for budding young artists,” reads a statement on the Rutgers University website. “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. Children also find inspiration in the museum’s collections as they explore the galleries.”

As a student at the Zimmerli in 2012, Marisa herself was the recipient of a generous art scholarship for her achievement in camp and based on her potential. Our foundation is honored to have an opportunity to pay that kindness forward.

Students who are Middlesex County residents between the ages of 7 and 14 are eligible for the annual scholarship. The application deadline for this year’s award was Feb. 1. Our scholarship committee selected the winners from a pool of candidates. Scholarship applicants must share Marisa’s passion and talent for art. Only art teachers can nominate scholarship candidates.

The camp runs on five successive weeks beginning June 25 and concluding July 28 (there is no camp on July 4). The scholarship recipients can elect to participate in either full-day or half-day sessions for any one of those weeks. The Zimmerli offers dozens of programs.

Edison High School baseball coach Vinnie Abene, who serves as the Greater Middlesex Conference Baseball Coaches Association’s president, said a coach from the league called him immediately after attending Marisa’s wake last year and proposed the idea of an arts 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,” Coach Abene said. “There was one particular coach that was really moved by what he saw at the wake 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 as the wake 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.”

Established less than nine months ago, The Marisa Tufaro has already made a profound impact. Through the generosity of others, our nonprofit has:

• Collected thousands of toys for pediatric patients at Saint Peter’s University Children’s Hospital and Bristol-Myers Squibb Children’s Hospital.
• Funded the purchase of brand new metal bunk beds for campers at Kiddie Keep Well Camp, which serves more than 600 underserved Middlesex County children annually.
• Supported instruction and supplies for an art therapy program at Bristol-Myers Squibb Children’s Hospital, to which the foundation also provided funds for infant mobiles, toy cars staff use to transport children to the operating room for surgery and bubbles to be included in welcome bags.
• Provided money for equipment and supplies for students with disabilities who utilize the Lakeview School’s newly constructed aquatics center.
• Provided medical alert bracelets to children with autism and pediatric patients with chronic illness who receive outstanding care from Children’s Specialized Hospital, which annually serves more than 34,000 children statewide.
• Partially funded the Make-A-Wish of a Middlesex County boy who is winning a battle with high-risk neuroblastoma.
• Provided physical therapy at Special Strides Therapeutic Riding Centerand Project Walk for Middlesex County children whose families do not have health insurance or whose families’ health insurer does not cover the cost of the physical therapy.
• Raised money and collected nonperishable food items to benefit Middlesex County children and their families through Hands of Hope via our foundation’s participation in the Race to Outrun Hunger.
• Provided meals and goods for families staying at the Ronald McDonald House of Central Jersey.
• Assisted families whose children are in medical crisis, providing financial support through the payment of medical and/or personal expenses to help lessen the burden of parents who have lost wages while spending time at the hospital.
• Conducted a coat drive for Middlesex County children.
• Provided gift cards for pediatric patients and their families.
• Provided scholarships for Middlesex County students.

Marisa’s ambition was to attend an arts 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 last year.