Lulu Pelletier of Fort Kent will be recognized as the recipient of the third annual Robert C. Wanbaugh Memorial Art Award on Wednesday, Nov. 10, at 1 p.m. at the University of Maine at Presque Isle. As a result of the award, two portraits of Vietnam veterans will be added to the campus’ permanent art collection. Veterans on campus have been invited to join Pelletier and her subjects, Lynwood (Woody) Monteith and Wayne Moshier, for the unveiling of the portraits in the president’s office.
Ms. Pelletier receives the award for the portraits of two veterans that she created as part of her senior art show. Both portraits were selected for inclusion in the Senior Thesis Group Exhibition at the Reed Art Gallery from June 1 to September 10. Ms. Pelletier received her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in May 2010, graduating magna cum laude.
Professor Emerita Dr. Rebecca Herrick Wanbaugh established the Robert C. Wanbaugh Memorial Art Purchase Award endowment in 2008 in memory of her husband, an artist and Bachelor of Fine Arts graduate from the University. The endowment provides for the annual purchase of an outstanding work of student art for the University’s collection.
Robert C. Wanbaugh earned his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the University in 1988. As a senior art student, he received the Joel Dana Senior Art Scholarship Award and, in 1986, he earned the Photography Award of Excellence from the Photographers Forum of Santa Barbara, California. Wanbaugh was born in 1936 in Saginaw, Michigan. He served in the U.S. Air Force, as a Lieutenant with the Presque Isle Police Department, as Purchasing Agent/Personnel Director for the City of Presque Isle, as Acting Executive Director of the Presque Isle Urban Renewal Authority, and later as Director of Safety and Security at the University of Maine at Presque Isle,
“This endowment is meaningful for everyone involved. One of our students has the opportunity to sell a work of art and list the Wanbaugh Award on his or her resume. In addition, the campus adds to its growing collection, and the Wanbaugh name and legacy are recognized and remembered on an annual basis,” added President Zillman.
For more information about the award, contact UMPI Associate Professor Dr. Leo-Paul Cyr at 768-9609 or leopaul.cyr@maine.edu.