Supported by the NAWF, Welsh sculptor Ashleigh Harrold is performing at this year’s International Conference on Contemporary Cast Iron Art in Scranton, PA.

Her performance, entitled 53,768,celebrates the number of Welsh miners that emigrated to Scranton in the early 1800s and will use the two symbols of Scranton’s Welsh history - the Red Dragon and the Electric City Light Bulb.

Ashleigh will pour iron through the head of a Welsh red dragon to cascade out of the mouth and eyes into a mould of the Scranton light bulb, illustrating how the Welsh helped form the industry of iron and steel in Scranton. The mould will then be cracked open revealing a glowing bulb, much like the one seen on the Scranton Electric Building.

Ashleigh is a sculptor and hot metal artist, specializing in cast iron.  A native of Tredegar in the heart of the iron-making South Wales Valleys, she attended Carmarthen School of Art from 2014-2017.

The performance takes place at the Historic Furnaces, Scranton PA. on Friday 1 June 2018 between 8-10pm

STUDENT CELEBRATES SCRANTON'S WELSH HERITAGE
A young artist from Tredegar, heart of iron smelting area of South Wales,  is being helped by the NAWF to exhibit at the Conference of Contemporary Cast Iron Art in Scranton Pennsylvania this summer.

Ashleigh Harrold is a graduate of the Carmarthen School of Art, the only university in the UK teaching students to cast iron.  The conference organisers invited her to present her performance sculpture consisting of a wooden and iron dragon that will emit flames through its mouth before consuming itself.  The performance is named 53,678, signifying the number of people who migrated from Wales to the Scranton area in the nineteenth century.

Prof Jon Roper  Vice President NAWF (Wales), described Ashleigh as a highly motivated and talented artist who was a deserved recipient of the award.  Ashleigh described her work as a celebration of the Welsh-American heritage of the Scranton area.  She was delighted to receive the bursary as it allowed her to book her airfare to Pennsylvania. 

Every year the NAWF awards scholarships to North American students wishing to study in Wales.  There is an Exchange Scholarship of $5,000 and, thanks to the Lloyd family, a travel scholarship of $1,000.  Grants of up to $1,000 are also awarded to individuals or organizations, all, of course, with Welsh connections, be they cultural, educational or their heritage.  In the past scholarships have been awarded to musicians, historians, linguists, and entrepreneurs.  We have been extremely proud of these young people and they, in turn, are grateful for the support received from the Foundation.

This year the applications for scholarships was overwhelming and the standard of the applicants quite outstanding.  How does one choose a "winner” from such an elite group?   Fortunately this year the Foundation received two unexpected windfalls - via a donation from the Welsh Women's Club of America and from the estate of the late Marjorie Owen.  This enabled us to give not one but three Exchange Scholarships to three outstanding young women.

Elizabeth Green of Pennsylvania, is a superb musician and already enrolled in the Composition programme in Bangor University.  Her goal is to compose for films and art installations and also for ensembles.  She has already composed for a local television company and is currently working on an orchestral work to be performed at the Llangollen International Eisteddfod, bringing together Welsh, American and Taiwanese performers in an expression of peace and goodwill.

Brooke Martin of Georgia, is also a musicologist doing her postgraduate degree at Bangor University, with a focus on Welsh music.  Her passions are reed organs and brass bands.  Her research will focus on the impact of brass bands on the mining town of Wales.  She also hopes to nurture the growth of brass bands in the U.S.
Claire Oldfather of Alabama, already a student at Aberystwyth University, is an Archivist focusing on Classics and Folklore and Mythology.  Her major interests are the Arthurian romances, comparing those in Wales, England and France.  Her aim is to read for a Doctorate in Celtic and Mediaeval Studies.  All three of the above are learning Welsh.

The Lloyd family Travel Scholarship is awarded to Keri Lawrence of Ohio.  Keri will study for a term at the University of Wales, Trinity St David's.  Her aim is to connect cultures by developing a website, blog and sketch album in order to guide other students wishing to study abroad in Wales.

This year $2,500 was available for Grants.  These monies were divided between Arvonia Historical Society, Kansas, Tom Chandler, a Welsh actor based in NY City and James Sevitt, an educator researching social injustice and focusing on the post global financial crisis of 2008 and Brexit .  According to James, these events have exacerbated the deep divisions and resentments between metropolitan centres and the neglected peripheries, i.e. the "haves" and the "have-nots".  His research focuses on Cardiff and Merthyr Tydfil.

The Lloyd Jones Award winners are Danielle Williams of Penygroes and Daniel Avis of Llanidloes.  Both are outstanding designers, with Daniel focusing on jewellery and Danielle hoping to design an alternative Oxygen Mask and Nasal cannula.  

We congratulate all of our successful applicants and wish them well. I am certain that you have all been impressed by these winners.  However, our on-going support for worthy North American Welsh students depends totally on our having the necessary finances.  Please consider helping us by donating to our Scholarship Fund.  Please contact Dr. Philip Davies at nwafcymru@gmail.com.

Hefina Phillips-NAWF Scholarship Committee

by Hefina Phillips (on behalf of the NAWF Scholarship Committee)
One of the greatest joys in life is to share ones passions with others.  Chairing the Scholarship committee of the NAAF has certainly brought me a huge amount of pleasure.

Annually two scholarships are offered to North Americans who wish to study in Wales.  There is an Exchange Scholarship of $5,000 and the Lloyd Travel Scholarship of $1,000.  Of course, deciding to whom these scholarships are to be awarded can be quite a headache.  Not so this year.  Although there were several applications, two were outstanding and it was not difficult therefore for the Scholarship committee to come to a decision.

The two successful applicants were Mari Morgan and Marah Hager.

Mari Morgan is well known to many of us in North America.  She was the director of Côr Gogledd America and is a prominent and popular conductor of cymanfaoedd canu.  She emigrated to the United States in the 1990s.

Currently Mari is reading for her PhD in Trinity/St David's University College, Carmarthen.  The subject of her Dissertation is the work and history of the Welsh American musicians Daniel Prothero and Joseph Parry.  This is proving to be extremely exciting and Mari has discovered manuscripts and information that were until very recently unknown.

There is a close connection between Trinity/St David's and the Madog Centre of Welsh Studies at Rio Grande University, OH.  It is from this Institution that our second winner comes.  Marah Hager's CV is spectacular!  She has been extremely involved with Welsh activities in the college, promoting awareness of Welsh culture in the community.  During her stay at Trinity/St David's she will work on a publication documenting her personal experience in the Welsh Exchange programme.  She also aims to improve her Welsh and become fluently bi-lingual as she explores her heritage.

The Scholarship committee were so impressed with these two stellar applicants that the decision was made to divide the scholarship moneys equally between them.

We are extremely proud of them both and wish them "Pob lwc" as they continue with their studies.

A third scholarship is the Lloyd Jones Scholarship at Bangor University. A major endowment has been provided by Lloyd Jones of Allentown, PA to recognize the accomplishments of individuals graduating from Bangor University, North Wales.  Awards are given to promising young entrepreneurs based on projects completed in their undergraduate studies.  This year's recipients are Rhiannon Haf Quirk who designed and manufactures soft toys and decorative furnishings for her proposed on-line business, and Richard Gabriel Noakes, who designed and manufactured a prototype camera system to increase visibility for tractor drivers reversing attached trailers on farms in mid-Wales.

Rhiannon and Richard graduated from Bangor this year with a B.Sc. in product design.  We congratulate them and wish them well as they begin their careers in Wales.