The Creative Airdrie Society (CAS) has announced the recipient of the Karin Simpson Memorial Scholarship for Creativity for 2017.

Local fashionista Katherine Funk will receive a $500 scholarship toward her Apparel Technology Diploma from Olds College.  Her creative field will be in fashion and costume design, which she has been interested in since grade school.

Board Chair for Creative Airdrie, Jennifer Benner says this award is one of the favourites for the group.  

"We feel that it helps the next generation of artists coming out of Airdrie.  Anything we can do to help foster that growth, we're really proud to be able to offer this type of program and we're extremely pleased that Katherine was this year's recipient and we're looking forward to some really great things from her."

Awards are not a new thing for Funk.  Benner says she's already been recognized for her work.  

"She was the recipient of the Airdrie Mayor's Night of the Arts award in the Youth Category this past January, so she's already been putting out some amazing works of fashion."

Funk has worked with, and designed a piece for the internationally renowned MakerFashion 5.0 show in April.  She is the daughter of local artist Veronica Funk but is quickly blazing her own creative trail.

Benner says even though you might not think of sewing as a traditional artistic field it requires great creativity so they're happy to have Funk receive the scholarship.

Funk says of her chosen field, "I see clothing as a way to show people your true self and a way to build up self confidence.  I hope that one day I will be able to make someone feel confident and beautiful in their body, without having to change anything about themselves."

Karin Simpson, who the scholarship was named for, was one of the founding members of CAS and was dedicated to nurturing arts and culture in the City of Airdrie.  She passed away in 2014, the scholarship was established to honour her life's passion and carry her legacy forward.

 

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