Sheila Hugh Mackay Foundation is pleased to award the 2010 Fred Ross Scholarship to Saint John native, Maggie Higgins.
The High Honours Saint John High graduate plans to pursue a degree in Fine Arts at Mount Allison University in Sackville.
Maggie Higgins won high praise from the 2010 Scholarship jurors for her landscape series which exhibit both sensitivity to place and a willingness to explore a wide variety of mediums. Her deep interest in art history, both locally and internationally, is evident in her experimentation with style; yet her work is marked by a concentrated focus. Her series of landscapes, inspired by the unique architecture of early Saint John, reflect a maturing artistic sensibility. In expressing her love for the unique landscape of her native city, Ms. Higgins writes, “The clotheslines, the windows, crooked fences and jagged horizons were once domestic and common to me; now they have become characters speckling the hillsides and inspiring my art.”
The Fred Ross Scholarship was established to acknowledge the remarkable career of Fred Ross and to recognise his deep interest in helping artists of the future. Since 2001, The Sheila Hugh Mackay Foundation has provided these scholarships to students pursuing a study of Fine Arts in any post secondary institution of choice.
Ms. Higgins is completing her studies as an International Baccalaureate Student at Saint John High School and has studied for two years at Saint John Arts Centre in the James Venner Russell sponsored Scholarship Program. For the last three years, this young artist has been deeply involved in the local community. Her volunteer service includes work with Run for the Cure, Children’s Wish Foundation,Youth in Action, Free the Children, Helping Hand for Haiti as well as student government. She is an active volunteer at Saint John Arts Centre, assisting in a children’s art class sponsored by the Joshua Group.
Ms. Higgins’s work draws inspiration from Saint John legends, Jack Humphrey and Fred Ross.
Saint John High School IB art teacher, Elizabeth Donnelly-Nelson commented on her strengths as a researcher evident in her exploration of the legacy of Jack Humphrey and Fred Ross. Higgins also credits local artist Sarah Jones as a source of inspiration in using art to express her appreciation for the unique qualities of Saint John. She compares the houses she paints to “characters speckling the hillsides.
Higgins had previously won a two year Portfolio Development Scholarship at Saint John Art Centre. She serves as an active volunteer at the local art centre and has been a volunteer art teacher with a children’s art programs
2009 Fred Ross Scholarship
Because of the exceptional calibre of applications in 2009, The Foundation awarded two high school students with the Fred Ross Scholarship.
Brandon Hunter a graduate of Simonds High School to study animation at New Brunswick Community College in Mirimichi City and Jae Hyun Daniel Roh a graduate of Rothesay Netherwood 
School to study fine arts at Nova Scotia College of Art and Design in Halifax.
The Foundation acknowledges the assistance of Fred Ross and Herzl Kashetsky in the selection of the 2009 winners.
