The scholarships were established by the Cleveland Creative Arts Guild in honor of John Simmons and Billie Nipper to benefit students in arts programs.
Lee University art students now have two additional scholarships to apply for thanks to the Cleveland Creative Arts Guild. The Cleveland Creative Arts Guild has established the scholarships within the university’s Department of Communication Arts in honor of John Simmons and Billie Nipper.
According to an article on Lee University’s website, Dr. Christine Williams, who serves as the chair of the Department of Communication Arts, was quoted as saying, “This is a tremendous gift, and we are thrilled to receive this opportunity to continue the great work of the Creative Arts Guild by investing in the next generation of artists in Bradley County. These scholarships will create terrific opportunities for students pursuing their dreams of the arts at Lee. We are excited to help local students take the next step in pursuing their careers in art and theatre through these scholarships.”
The two scholarships are the Billie Nipper Memorial Scholarship and the John Simmons Visual Arts Scholarship. Billie Nipper was a longtime Guild member and an artist, whose work was commissioned to be presented to winners of the annual Walking Horse Celebration in Shelbyville, Tennessee. She was one of the coordinators of the Guild’s annual Nillie Bipper Arts and Crafts Festival, which was playfully named after her, and which is one of the Guild’s principal fundraisers. John Simmons also served as a coordinator for the Nillie Bipper Arts and Crafts Festival, and is a retired Lee University art instructor.
The goal of establishing the scholarships is to continue to encourage a love and appreciation of the arts in future generations. Both scholarships are intended to be awarded to freshmen students from Bradley County who are majoring in visual arts or theatre and have demonstrated financial need.
Simmons said, “The Cleveland Creative Arts Guild decided to endow scholarships in theater and visual arts to promote local Bradley County students pursuing studies in these areas and provide assistance in attending Lee University. Hopefully these awards will stimulate interest in the arts throughout the region.”
For more information about Lee University, visit the school’s website.