
The Blue Whole Gallery is proud to announce that two Sequim High School student artists are their 2024 scholarship winners.
Shirley Foss Memorial Scholarship – $500 – Madison White

The judging committee named Madison White as the $500 Shirley Foss Memorial Scholarship winner. Madison is a Sequim High School senior and part of the graduating class of 2024. She plans to attend Peninsula College in the fall and pursue her dream of becoming a Digital Graphics Designer.
The annual award honors the life of Shirley Foss, one of the original members of the gallery when it opened in 1997 and is designed to help students who wish to pursue a career in the visual arts.
Madison has loved drawing and especially digital graphics for years. Last year she landed an internship at Lobo Design, where she had the opportunity to work on a variety of projects ranging from designing online newspaper and magazine advertising to building websites. Her yearbook advisor James R. Heintz, wrote in his recommendation that she has been recognized for her drawings for the Sequim Irrigation Festival buttons, her idea for the cover of a yearbook and the selection of her art for several Sequim postcards.
According to her world languages teacher, Sonja Miller, Madison has been very involved in her community. As two-year American Sign Language student, she volunteers in the Helen Haller Sign Language Club. For the past seven years she has picked up bags of canned food with her mother for the USPS food drive. She also works with her family to decorate the graves of war veterans on Memorial Day.
Madison is looking forward to a future helping others with their graphic design needs in the Olympic Peninsula area.
Kate Loveland Memorial Scholarship – $500 – Anne Marie Barni

The $500 Kate Loveland Memorial Scholarship was awarded by the Blue Whole Gallery judging committee to Anne Marie Barni. Anne Marie is a senior at Sequim High School and part of the 2024 graduating class.
This scholarship was established at the Blue Whole Gallery to celebrate the creativity of young people in memory of Kate Loveland, one of the gallery’s long-time artist members. Kate was a talented photographer who very much valued looking at life from a quiet, contemplative perspective: her award-winning photographs were stunning: they explored nature’s “hidden beauty”, and brought it to the forefront, capturing the viewer’s attention. Kate also excelled at uncovering the hidden beauty in human beings. As a psychologist, she was known to be exceptionally kind and compassionate, yet highly skilled in helping clients uncover their own inner resources and strengths. It is with great appreciation and respect for all that Kate Loveland was, that BWG awards this scholarship.
Anne Marie moved to Sequim in 2021 from Bothell, Washington to be closer to her grandmother. That same year she was selected to represent the Blue Whole Gallery and mark the student artist program’s comeback for the COVID-19 pandemic.
Anne Marie loves working with watercolors to create poster-style work but says she has always been interested in animation. “Over the course of my life, I’ve always wanted to work as an animator and someday pitch my own ideas to a major studio.” Anne Marie is highly regarded by her teachers who share that she is a powerful leader, a gifted academic and talented artist. She has been an ASB elected officer, helped launch the local Squatchcon Student Artist program, was part of the 2023 Sequim Irrigation Festival royalty and won the Congeniality Award.
In addition, her devotion to community service awarded her a Sequim High School varsity letter for one hundred and forty-five hours of community service. Anne Marie writes, “Today I see the world for what I can offer it, dedicating myself to community service and whatever new adventure awaits.”
Anne Marie has been accepted to the Cornish School of the Arts and hopes to pursue a degree in character design and animation studies.