2025 Scholarship Winners Announced

The Marblehead Festival of Arts is proud to announce the 2025 scholarship recipients: Lucy Bland, Shawn Stolarz, and Genevieve Riegle.

Lucy Bland is a recent graduate of Marblehead High School who will be attending VCUarts in the fall. Lucy currently likes to explore detailed stories of her past through oil painting and is excited to see how her art will change in the future. Lucy started painting when she moved to Marblehead in first grade and began taking classes at Acorn Gallery School of Art. In addition to being an Acorn student for 11 years, she has been an after-school teacher there for the last four years. At MHS, Lucy has acted as vice president to the National Art Honors Society and was recently awarded a Gold Key and three Silver Keys from the Scholastic Arts and Writing Awards. Outside of school, Lucy devotes most of her time to art. She is the co-founder and co-chair of the Marblehead Arts Association’s Youth Committee, which is devoted to bringing youth art into the spotlight at the Marblehead Arts Association. Lucy has participated in many group shows and recently hosted a solo exhibit at the Marblehead Arts Association. In her summers, Lucy works as an overnight camp counselor, enjoying time in nature. Lucy would like to give special thanks to her parents, Debra Freeman-Heighberger, Jack Heighberger, and Ms. Huller White at MHS for exposing her to the world of art.

Shawn Stolarz has been drawn to all-things artistic since before he could even hold a crayon. As a child, Shawn found art in the ordinary: the swirls of oil in street puddles, for example, and the array of colors and textures found in the natural world. By the age of eleven, Shawn was creating nearly every day, in love with the art of creation. During his creative journey, his work has explored a wide array of themes, topics, and styles. Many of his earlier works explored the concept of “beauty” and what constitutes such a subjective term. His most recent paintings have centered on the concept of bridging a spiritual practice with artmaking. Stolarz plans to pursue these works while attending the School of the Museum of Fine Arts at

Tufts University, where he will continue his artistic explorations while also pursuing his interest

in philosophy and world religion via their open curriculum. Through his obsession with art, Stolarz has painted for thousands of hours, having worked for nearly twenty thousand hours while also in school at Bishop Fenwick High. Shawn’s love for art has provided a framework for his life, and he is excited for all his future artistic endeavors. Stolarz says he is so grateful for all the support he has been given for his art. He is most thankful for such supportive parents who gave him the freedom to pursue his artistic aspirations from a young age. As Stolarz said, “The cosmos is eternally overflowing with infinite beauty, full of beautiful souls and so many beautiful people; I hope I can someday share my own light via artmaking."

Genevieve Riegle, known to most as Evie, is a filmmaker and recent graduate of Marblehead High School who will be attending Pratt Institute to study Film & Psychology in the fall. Over the course of high school, Evie has participated in the MHS-TV program for four years, and attended Raw Art Works Real to Reel film school where she explored further and cemented her interest in film. Evie has worked locally at Marblehead Outfitters for half of her high school years, and held a position as a board member organizing and preparing for the 2024 Marblehead Festival of Arts Film Festival. Evie’s work has been recognized in various festivals such as the Boston International Kids Film Festival and the Roxbury Film Festival, and she looks forward to continuing her work alongside a community of talented artists in New York next year.”

Since 1986, the Marblehead Festival of Arts has awarded scholarships to high school seniors who reside in or attend schools in Marblehead, and who are pursuing higher education in visual arts, performing arts, crafts, music, or drama. The Festival’s objective is to encourage students interested in pursuing the arts professionally to acquire a sound academic grounding in their chosen fields. The scholarship is awarded annually. The winners are recognized at the Awards Ceremony held just before the Festival begins.