Abigail Cushman, reporter
@abigailccourant
1969 was a year of mountain climbs and pitfalls. On July 20, Neil Armstrong became the first human being to ever set foot on the moon, winning America the seemingly everlasting space race. In April, the Vietnam War had put 543,000 American military personnel in Vietnam. But back in our small town of New Canaan, after graduating from NCHS and then Harvard as a poet laureate, Fredrick “Fritz” Eager passed away and the Fritz Eager Foundation was born.
The foundation was created by Fritz’s family to honor his love for the arts. Now celebrating 50 years, it gives out scholarships, grants, and guidance, to devoted art students.
The Purchase Award has existed since 1969. “Only 3 pieces out of the whole Senior class get purchased and each student gets 800 dollars as an award,” said art teacher and foundation president Jeanne McDonagh. “Any senior can put together a one person exhibition or they can submit up to three works of any media type individually.”
Foundation artwork can be seen in the library, hallways, and classrooms. “Every piece purchased is put up in the school,” art teacher and foundation trustee Jennifer Sinski said. “You can see artworks from the 1960s, ‘70s, ‘80s and ‘90s all throughout the building. They’re in a frame, or a display case and they all have labels on them so you’ll know that it’s a Fritz Eager collected piece. We keep adding to that collection.”
The foundation itself is a board of committee members. “As a committee we look for community members who hold art in a special place,” Ms. Sinski said. “Art is a part of their life, so they have a good eye, but they also care about students and they want to see funds being used for students.” The same committee is maintained each year, but if a committee member is unable to fulfill their seat, new members are invited.
Ms. Sinski has, along with fellow art teachers Jeanne McDonagh and Kimmane Core, guided many students throughout their years of art education. In particular, she mentioned how proud she was of Charlie Hane and Jack Dunn when they received the purchase award; “They did a film called ‘The Principles of Robbery’ and it was a big group production,” she said. “That to me is a special one because I advised them and mentored them with it.” This film can now be seen on the Fritz Eager Foundation website.
The Bernice Dobkin Hall Scholarship was later added to the foundation’s list of opportunities. Named after the late Art Department Chair Bernice Dobkin Hall, the scholarship is given out yearly with 2500 dollars at most given to an individual student. “It goes out to specifically juniors at the end of the year who are looking to do a summer arts program to help build their portfolio,” Ms. Sinski said.
Ms. McDonagh also spoke about the Bernice Dobkin Hall scholarship process. “We bring in an outside artist to help us decide who will receive it. Students submit a proposal with where they want to go and a portfolio. We have a criteria that we follow,” Ms. McDonagh said. “If they present a portfolio that shows that they have an interest in seriously pursuing the arts, we try to get them some money.”
Senior Audrey Bloom attended the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) after receiving the Bernice Dobkin Hall scholarship. Audrey took a course in art activism and developed a final project about child marriage in the US. “It was amazing!” she said. “We did art six hours a day for six weeks, and homework on top of that. Everybody did art history, drawing foundations, and design foundations.”
Audrey is really happy about the amount of support for the arts there is at our high school. “The teachers are amazing and really dedicated to helping us.”
In addition to the Bernice Dobkin Hall Scholarship, the Fritz Eager Foundation provides an advanced project grant. “If a student wants to try something different, and they need supplies that we wouldn’t ordinarily have in class, they can apply for the grant, which we have 500 dollars a year for,” Ms. McDonagh said.
For example, Ms. Sinski said that Audrey Bloom and Skye Curren applied for the grant to investigate paper lithography this year. “They’re really into printmaking and we don’t have the ability to do that in this school, so they went out and submitted a grant proposal and they received it,” she said.
The foundation allows each teacher to bring up to two visiting artists every school year. “This year, the master printer from the Center for Contemporary Printmaking came for two days to work with the students in the printmaking class,” Ms. McDonagh said. “There’s also a mom that’s coming in who makes jewelry. The artists help the students really get an idea of arts in the workplace and how people make a living from their craft.”
Ms. McDonagh has begun to find out that many previous Fritz Eager students now have successful careers in the arts. Some became designers for Hermes, photographers for Ralph Lauren, craftsmen for the show ‘Flea Market Flip,’ and lead illustrators for the New York Times Book Magazine. “When Narissa Chang was a senior I had her for design and her work was so good that the foundation bought three of her pieces instead of buying three from three different students,” she said. “Narissa majored in sculpture and engineering at Dartmouth and now is the Lead Mechanical Engineer of the Nike Company in Boston.”
Ms. Sinski hopes to do a special reception for the 50th anniversary of the foundation. “It would be important for us to celebrate that benchmark of time,” she said. “This foundation is still being benefited from 50 years later and we hope to keep it thriving for the next hundred years.”
The Fritz Eager Foundation is a great way for students to get involved in art and even win scholarships for it. “Students can be a part of this and use the foundation to get a deeper experience in the arts,” Ms. Sinski said. “They just need to come forward and apply for grant, a scholarship, or participate in the art shows. We’re here for them.”
