2020 Barbara Benson Memorial Art Scholarships Winners

Top row from left to right: Caleb Dehn,Shannon Moore, Aricia Hwang, Kimberly Feregrino. Bottom row from left to right: Hannah Kim, Nidhi Kumar, Jaeyeon Lee.

Caleb Dehn     Foothill High School      Instrumental Music Composition
Caleb plans on attending the University of Southern California in the fall with a double major in Choral Music and Biophysics. He hopes to be a classical composer and conduct a choir or orchestra at the university level. Of his mentor he says, “Throughout high school, my mother has been a huge mentor to me. Both in music and in life, she has taught me so much and has continually inspired me to be the best I can be.”

Kimberly Feregrino     Tustin High School      Graphic Design
Kimberly will enroll at Santiago Canyon Community College in the fall to continue studying Graphic Design. Her career interest is in product advertisement but also enjoys creating comics! She hopes her joy will help inspire other artists like the ones who inspired her. Her teacher, Angie Soriano, is her mentor, “Mrs. Soriano has helped me explore art in more creative methods than I usually attempt; trying different mediums to draw in and compare different types before setting on one for a design. She’s also always ready to help her students continue improving, and makes sure to tell us where we’ve grown as well as in which areas we can continue to grow in.”

Aricia Hwang     Beckman High School     Stage Management
Aricia will attend Cal State Long Beach in the fall with a major in Technical Theatre. After she completes her degree, she will begin her career in design/management of stage productions. Of her mentor she says of her teacher, Antonio Moon, “Mr. Moon, who is the Theatrical Director and Advanced Theatre Arts class teacher, has been my mentor throughout my high school experience. He has been faithful and always believed in me. Mr. Moon has been the greatest supporter and motivated me to constantly try and make a better stage.”

Hannah Kim      Orange County High School of the Arts          Film
Hannah will attend Harvard University in the fall with a double major in Government and Art Film & Visual Studies. She is passionate about filmmaking and advocacy. After graduating she hopes to pursue filmmaking in New York City, creating documentaries and narrative films. Her goal is to someday live in Asia and create feature films under her own production company to tell the “untold stories”. Of her mentor she says, “My mom, Grace, has been such a critical part of artistry. Beyond being an amazing mother, who takes care of me and creates space for me to be myself, she has consistently supported my filmmaking. She is an amazing writer, and I believe I got my love of storytelling from her.”

Nidhi Kumar    Beckman High School         Film
In the fall, Nidhi plans on attending Chapman University to major in Film Production. After completing her degree, she hope to work on films she can be proud of and to be on as many films sets as possible. Of her mentor, her teacher Nathan Boice, she says, “Junior year, I was filming a music video that required a restaurant. Thinking I would never be allowed to film in one, I decided to use my dining table. When I told Mr. Boice this, he told me I could easily find a restaurant if I just picked up the phone and asked. At first, I didn’t believe this, but I decided to give a call anyway. Days later, I got a call back from one of the restaurants who said yes. It taught me that I could find anything necessary for my films and the possibilities are endless. This is one of the skills I learned from Mr. Boice.”

Jaeyeon Lee     Beckman High School          Visual Arts
Jaeyeon will enroll in Laguna College of Art and Design with a major in Game Art and a minor in Animation. After she graduates, it is her dream to work for a game company, or in an animation studio, or as a 3D modeler. Her mentor throughout high school has been her teacher, Gigi Manning. “Mrs. Manning, my graphic design teacher, has taught me the fundamental skills of not only design, but art in general that helped me a lot towards building my skills. Ms. Yang and Mr. Eum from Icon Art  Design have been great mentors as well, because they always pushed me to put my best effort when creating.

Shannon Moore         Foothill High School      Instrumental Music
Shannon will attend Riverside City College in the fall and major in Music Education. In the future, she sees herself doing what she loves, teaching. She plans of becoming a band director at the high school or college level. Of her mentors she says, “My mother has always been a mentor to me. She was a band director in the Santa Ana Unified School District and without her support, I never would’ve had the tools to explore music. My older sister is also a mentor to me. She always supported all of my musical endeavors and helped me whenever I needed it. She inspired me to work hard and convinced me that I can do anything that I apply myself to. She is also a musician and she won this scholarship in 2012.”