A $60,000 academic and artistic windfall

A young woman who emigrated from Seoul, South Korea at 17, and three years later is a senior at Lawrence Woodmere Academy, won a $60,000 scholarship to the School of Visual Arts – the highest amount that school awards.

Hannah Ahn received the first-ever $60,000 scholarship given by the Manhattan-based school after she was named a finalist for the award and earned a $1,000 fine arts scholarship from the Terian Foundation in the sixth annual Peter Terian Fine Arts competition. She was one of 10 finalists and 168 students who submitted a portfolio of original artwork and academic transcripts.

Ahn was supported in her move to the U.S. by her family, especially her mother, HyunJoo Park, who is also an artist. “She told me to be an artist, it is very important to see other worlds,” said Ahn, who had one of her pieces “Subway” exhibited at Heckscher Museum in Huntington as part of the “Long Island’s Best Young Artists” exhibition. Ahn also had her work on display in the LWA library and enjoyed a reception there last Friday.

Her grandmother wanted Ahn to take a more pragmatic career path and study business, but was convinced of her granddaughter’s choice after she won the scholarship. Park, who recently showed her work at the Kips Gallery in Manhattan, said being an artist is a difficult way to earn a living, and as a parent she was concerned about her daughter enduring such a tough life.

“She really is talented and has worked very hard, I am proud of her,” said Park, who thought her daughter came to the U.S. at the right time of her life, where she was able to absorb a broad scope of ideas. “I want Hannah to do her best. I believe in her.”

Her family, LWA, her guardian and English tutor formed a very strong support system for Ahn. Initially, she lived in a house in Deer Park with six other girls and two adults then came to live in Valley Stream with guardian JungHae Rhee and her husband.

An indifferent student at the International School she attended in South Korea, Ahn said that the faculty at LWA helped nurture her skills. “The teachers encourage all the students to do their best in academics, music and art, all the teachers help the students a lot, I think it really helped me to get the scholarship, said Ahn, who had applied to SVA, Parsons, Pratt and the Fashion Institute of Technology and gained acceptance to all four. “I had to focus on my schoolwork and art.”

Sophisticated and diverse is how LWA art teacher Dawn Schillaleis described Ahn’s work. “Hannah is one of the strongest [art] students that have come through Lawrence Woodmere Academy, she will

go far.”

English tutor Ellen Karcinell said that Ahn has worked very hard to succeed academically and artistically. “It is very important for her to give her artwork everything she can,” said Karcinell, who likes the way Ahn incorporates her heritage and the dynamics of New York in her work.

Ahn’s artwork, which is done in a variety of mediums from oils to acrylics to charcoal, is inspired by images she sees and expanding upon them. “Working on my artwork is a relief for me, when I am feeling stressed out,” Ahn said. “I can organize my thoughts. I like thinking about my ideas.”

Despite being a little older than the typical high school senior, Ahn admitted to being shy and said that having her work displayed where many others could view it was “unbelievable.”

As she approaches her freshman year of college, Ahn, who will move into Manhattan, said she has mixed emotions about leaving LWA. Ahn looks forward to the next chapter of her life and has advice for the next crop of art students.

“I am happy that I achieved my first dream, I’m sad that I’m leaving the school that helped me achieve my dream,” she said. “I want to learn a lot of different things from (SVA). And I tell kids who want to do design, to do a lot of fine arts.”