Shooting Stars · 2014

Created in 1997 by Chairman Emeritus Robert Endres, a then member of the Board for the Arts and Humanities Association of Johnson County, the Shooting Stars Program is one of the few initiatives in the community to honor high school students and their arts educators for artistic excellence in the literary, performing and visual arts through recognition, scholarships and awards.

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Sponsored by the Arts Council of Johnson County

With the help of generous contributors and program partners including Johnson County Community College, the Performing Arts Series, the Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art, the Arts Ambassadors and the dedicated staff and volunteers of the Arts Council of Johnson County, the program continues to grow. Since its creation, the Shooting Stars Program has recognized 1,000 high school seniors and awarded over $250,000 in college scholarships and almost $65,000 in teacher honorariums. To participate in the program, twelfth grade students must be nominated by their respective high school arts teacher and also be a resident of Johnson County, Kan. Once nominated, finalists then audition or submit a portfolio of work for review by independent judges. All participating teachers and students are honored and scholarship recipients are announced at the Annual Shooting Stars Gala in the spring.

This year, students honored in the Shooting Stars Program have been nominated by high school faculty members of the Blue Valley, De Soto, Gardner-Edgerton, Olathe, Shawnee Mission and Spring Hill School Districts, as well as Barstow School, Hyman Brand Hebrew Academy, Maranatha Academy, Notre Dame de Sion, Pembroke Hill Upper School, St. James Academy and St. Thomas Aquinas High School.

With the ongoing support of the Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art, works by the visual arts finalists are exhibited annually in the museum. Bruce Hartman, executive director, Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art, along with Whitney Williamson, museum registrar, selected one work from each of the finalists for exhibition in the museum. We hope you enjoy this year’s exhibition.

ACJC Board of Directors	Arts Ambassadors	Scholarship Categories
Josh Shelton, president	Lynne and Peter Brown	Photography
David Oliver, vice president of operations and finance	Linda and Chuck Carlsen	Three-Dimensional Art
Joe Mendoza, treasurer	Richard Carrothers and Dennis Hennessy	Two-Dimensional Art
Megan England, secretary	Eileen Cohen	Literature
Blake Schreck, immediate past president	Joni Cohen	Production and Design
Abby Beckloff	Mark Gilman	Theater Performance
Douglas Drake	Pam and Gary Gradinger	Voice
Mindi Love	Shirley and Barnett Helzberg	Strings
Susan Tate	Linda and Topper Johntz	Winds and Percussion
Joe Waters	Diana and Len Kline