Young cartoonist awarded local scholarship

WEBUTUCK — Kristen Kelleher has notebooks filled with drawings. Lots of notebooks.

“There’s probably about two tubs worth,†she says laughing. “Every once in a while I’ll look through them just to see what I was drawing in sixth grade.â€

Kelleher, 18, has been improving ever since. She’ll be graduating in a little more than a week from Webutuck High School and heading to the Pratt School of Design’s Utica campus this fall.

Kelleher was the lone senior artist to receive the Rhoda Lubalin Art Scholarship this year, a $500 award through the Berkshire Taconic Foundation. Lubalin is an Amenia resident who established the annual scholarship in 1990 to encourage the arts locally.

Kelleher’s specialty is in the style of manga, a broad term encompassing most Japanese-style comics and print cartoons. Her first exposure to manga was through the popular Pokemon franchise, it has developed over the years into a passion.

The artist’s plans, for now, are to attend Pratt for two years for fine arts before pursuing cartooning at the School of Visual Arts in Manhattan.

Samples of Kelleher’s art were hung in the school’s 7-12 art show, which currently line the walls near the main entrance. The majority of the pieces shown are colored pencil drawings from her private collection, but at the insistence of 7-12 art teacher, Samuel FitzGerald, she’s been branching out to other styles and mediums. Perhaps Kelleher’s most striking piece is a self-portrait showing the artist playing a violin.

Keheller doesn’t play the violin, but would like to someday. The drawing is little bit of wish-fulfillment, even if the artist isn’t quite confident enough yet outside of the manga style.

“I’m nervous and excited about heading to Pratt,†she said. “I really want to work on realism. I know that if I can get better at anatomy, it will make me a better cartoonist.â€

FitzGerald said that the scholarship, which will help Kelleher purchase art supplies, is “a wonderful thing for someone to have done,†and he was optimistic about seeing one of his students moving upward and pursuing her dream.

“It’s been a good run, and she’s ready to move on,†he said.

Browse through hundreds of Kelleher’s pieces at phoelion.deviantart.com, where’s she part of an online community that showcases user-made artwork.