Photo: Three students at St.
Rita High School were chosen as winners of the Joseph J.
Jasica Art Scholarship Competition, and were awarded $500
off the current year’s tuition. The program, in its second
year, was founded by Raymond Jasica, a 1955 Rita graduate,
in memory of his brother Joseph, a 1953 graduate.
Pictured (left to right) with their winning paintings are
Augustine Esterhammer-Fic '09, Brandon Parkison '08, and
Jesus Alvarado '08.
Home page photo (left to
right): Raymond Jasica ‘55, Karen Omastiak,
Jeanine Jasica, Brandon Parkison ‘08, Jesus Alvarado ‘08, Augustine Esterhammer-Fic ‘09,
and art teacher Robyn Kurnat.
The Fine Arts are alive and well at St.
Rita of Cascia High School, as evidenced recently when three
fledgling Van Goghs were awarded the Joseph J. Jasica Art
Scholarship. The program, now in its second year, was founded
by Raymond Jasica, a 1955 graduate of St. Rita, in memory of
his brother, Joseph, who was a 1953 graduate. “Joseph was
always a lover of art,” said Raymond, “and I wanted to do
something that would honor that memory as well as benefit the
current Rita students.” Each winner was awarded a $500 prize
that goes toward the current school year’s tuition.
The Joseph J. Jasica Art Scholarship
Competition encourages students in Art classes as well
as the entire student body to create a
piece of art that reflects their personal perspective on the
history of St. Rita High School, or on the lives of one of the
saints, such as Rita or Augustine.
There were a wide range of entries, and
though only two paintings were supposed to be chosen, the
judges – Ray Jasica, his wife Jeanine, and Karen Omastiak,
daughter of Joseph and mother to two current Ritamen, Mark ‘08
and Brian ‘11 – were so taken with a third piece that they
declared three winners at the January all-school Mass. Art
teacher Robyn Kurnat, who helped coordinate the competition,
and Principal Sally Deenihan were on hand to congratulate the
winners.
Brandon Parkison ‘08 was chosen for his
painting of a blood-red sunset with a single bird perched in
the foreground, representing the need to remember the natural
world in our daily life. Jesus Alvarado, ‘08 was chosen for
his vividly colorful representation of the school’s Dia de los
Muertos altar, which has been a staple for the Hispanic Club
in recent years, and emphasizes the multicultural heritage
that is found at St. Rita. Augustine Esterhammer-Fic ‘09 was
chosen for his portrait of a young friar accepting the flaming
heart of St. Augustine, which represents his teachings and the
restless nature of man’s soul until it comes home to God.
Each of the three paintings was beautifully framed and is on
display in the school’s main hallway. They will become part
of St. Rita’s permanent collection.
