Arts Advocates Awards $40,000 In Scholarships To Eight Local Students For The 2025-2026 School Year

Arts Advocates has announced that eight Sarasota and Manatee county students have each been awarded $5,000 scholarships for the 2025-2026 school year. The scholarship program awards students whose studies include visual and related arts, dance, writing, music, theater, and architecture. All scholarship monies are generated through Arts Advocates activities and donations.

Maria Medina Almaguer is a three-year Arts Advocates scholarship awardee studying piano at Berklee College of Music in Boston. Achievements this year include the Berklee World Tour and Thrive and Latin Grammy Foundation scholarships. Her major is contemporary writing and production with a film and media scoring minor.  

Emmalee Bunnell is a two-year Arts Advocates scholarship awardee studying dance at Marymount Manhattan College. In addition to achieving a 4.0 GPA, she works as a pro apprentice for Platinum National Dance Company. She travels around the country on weekends, stage managing the dance competition and assisting choreographers. She joined a club at MMC where they work with women at Bedford Hills State Prison who are enrolled in college courses.  She hopes to teach her first choregraphed piece to the women there … the idea is that despite who we may appear to be on the outside, or what our past has held, there is always space for movement and within that, healing. 

Vivianna Coppa is a first-year Arts Advocates scholarship awardee. Coppa is a sophomore musical theatre major at Jacksonville University. Last fall, she played a lead role in a student production and has contributed to set and costume design in campus productions. Her goal is to pursue a career that bridges performance, directing, and production across multiple art forms. 

Lillian Fox is a four-year Arts Advocates scholarship awardee studying at the University of South Florida pursuing a major in studio arts with a painting concentration. She had the opportunity this year to curate and showcase in a gallery exhibition at USF. She also started a mural painting business with her mother, Stephanie Guevara, called Foxxy Fine Art. Together they have painted murals at two elementary schools in Bradenton, a pediatric dental office, a rental home, and a local restaurant.  

Harrison May is a first-year Arts Advocates scholarship awardee and graduate of Venice High School.  He will pursue a Bachelor of Arts in music performance for tuba. He was the tuba section leader for the Venice High School Marching Band for two years. He has participated in USF and UCF honor bands as well as All County and All District bands. He is the principal tuba in the Sarasota Youth Philharmonic, and volunteers his time to mentor and coach young, aspiring musicians with the Sarasota Youth Orchestra. 

Noelle Prouty is a third-year Arts Advocates scholarship awardee and is continuing her studies at the University of Florida, majoring in both art and biology with a minor in entomology. She worked as a student assistant at the Florida Museum of Natural History's Butterfly Rainforest.  She aspires to pursue scientific illustration in graduate school and as a career, ideally in a museum, aquarium, or botanical garden setting, with the aim of helping others see the wonder in our world and the importance of protecting it.  

Samantha Tanelli is a third-year Arts Advocates scholarship awardee and attends Ringling College of Art and Design. She was chosen to showcase her work in the Ringling Art and Design art gallery show. Her career aspirations are centered on illustrating children's books and creating an inclusive art studio for children. Tanelli is a volunteer for Embracing Our Differences and works with preschool children. Her goals extend beyond personal success to a broader mission of advocacy and education in the arts.  

Danae Tran is a third-year Arts Advocates scholarship awardee. She studies violin performance at Stetson University. Tran is the concertmaster of the Stetson University symphony orchestra, chamber orchestra, and she is the leader of the prestigious chamber music ensemble The Barron Quartet. She will perform as a soloist for this year's Carnegie Hall competition winners' concert. She plans to pursue a master's program for violin performance and obtain an orchestra job.

Deb Altshul-Stark, co-chair of the Arts Advocates scholarship team along with Tonya Eubank, stated, “Members of Arts Advocates are proud to support these students in furthering their educations. We are impressed by the work, optimism, and drive of our awardees. We look forward to following their careers.”

To learn more about or become a member of Arts Advocates, visit ArtsAdvocates.org.

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