For the past eight years, the Chisholm Trail Arts Council’s (CTAC) Art Education in Schools program has awarded two $500 scholarships to graduates pursuing a career in the arts.
Alayna Hill, a senior and homeschool student from Marlow, is this year’s CTAC Visual and Performing Art Scholarship recipient. Alayna received a $1,000 scholarship after the AES committee decided to double the scholarship.
“We first really met Alayna on a rainy day in Marlow’s Redbud Park during a Paint in the Park competition and it was here that CTAC board member, Lou Baggett, reached out to her with encouragement and guidance,” states a release from CTAC. “That was the start of their friendship and soon weekly art lessons. Although Alayna is a very talented self-taught artist, her real passion is the piano.”
Hill has been actively involved with Chisholm Trail Arts Council and other art and music opportunities over the past several years.
“We are proud to have worked with her and watch her grow,” CTAC states.
Hill will attend Oklahoma State in the fall, majoring in music. She aspires to be a piano professor, will continue to perform, and wants to teach children how to play the piano. Her awards are many.
Some of her awards: 1st in the 2023 Ad Libitum International Piano Competition. 1st 21-22 Hubbard-Males Piano Comp, 1st 2023 OSU High School Piano Comp, 2nd American International Piano and Strings Comp, 3rd 2023 American Virtuoso International Music Comp, 3rd 2023 Glory International Piano Online Comp, 4th 2022 International Piano Online Comp, 5th 2022 Piano League Piano Star International Comp, 1st 2023 Congressional Art Comp, 1st 2020 State Fair, 1st or Best of Show 2018-2023 in CTAC’s Youth Art Month, 1st CTAC’s 2022 Holiday Art Show.
Hill’s other “cool opportunities” include having her art displayed in the Cannon Tunnel in Washington DC, performing twice in the Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall in New York City, acceptance and performance in the 2021 Juilliard Winter Festival, five solo recitals in two years, preshow performances for CTAC Live Concert Series, speaking on Chisholm Trail Heritage Center’s Trail Talk, displaying art in galleries and coffee shops, and creating a mural for Cameron University.
Hill has an avenue to show off her talent and that she can do great things by being able to sing and do art properly.
When asked why art programs are important to have in our schools, she replied: “Some kids aren’t really into the whole academic scene and are just way better at creating. If there weren’t any programs for art in public schools, think of all the potential that might never be discovered … I love art and music. It’s what I’m good at. I am very grateful to the village that has raised me for me to pursue it.”