Melinda Laszczynski
2008John Paul Miller Scholarship Winner
Melinda Laszczynski, a 4th year Painting major at The Cleveland Institute of Art, was awarded the 2009 John Paul Miller Scholarship from the Cleveland Arts Prize. Melinda is an ambitious student who earlier in the year had won prizes in the Avery Dension 2008 Art Competition and the University Hospitals Heart and Vascular Institute Art Competition. Her work is currently on display at The Cleveland Foundation in the show “The Way We Live Now”.
Melinda grew up in Mayfield Heights, OH and has taken art classes around the area since she was a child, including the Cleveland Institute of Art and the Cleveland Museum of Art. She credits her parents with encouraging her artistic growth and supporting her goal of becoming an artist.
In high school, she was accepted into the Commercial Art Vocational Program and spent half of each day in her junior and senior years concentrating on art and preparing a portfolio. After high school she chose to attend The Cleveland Institute of Art because of its great reputation and closeness to home.
Melinda fell in love with painting in her foundation classes and only applied to the Painting Department as a major. However, she takes a wide variety of studio classes, including drawing, print making, ceramics, and enameling, and doesn’t limit herself to working with one material in her work. She believes that it is important for artists to bring the knowledge of multiple materials and methods into their work in order to grow as an artist and expand possibilities. Her work references landscapes and organic forms and deals with issues of time and space.