Four students from Lone Star College-Montgomery recently put their best foot forward, and because of their artistic talent, were selected as winners in a campus-wide art scholarship contest generously hosted by Dr. Robert E. Neville of Foot Health Care Center in The Woodlands.
 
For the contest, Dr. Neville asked students to submit original artwork based on “feet.” The winners were granted varying scholarship amounts, and their framed artwork will be on display in Dr. Neville’s office for the next year.
 
“Dr. Neville has been providing this scholarship for several years,” said Michelle Rogers with Foot Health Care Center in The Woodlands. “It’s a great opportunity to promote the students’ talent and provide scholarship money for their future.”

Taking home the $500 first-place scholarship prize was Cassandra van Dongen, a first-year student at LSC-Montgomery. Her piece, “Relax,” was created using charcoal and white pastel.

“My mom was relaxing and swinging her feet, and they looked so beautiful, so I drew them,” said van Dongen. “It was a tremendous honor to be selected and a wonderful reward for a lot of hard work.”

Van Dongen plans to transfer to New York Film Academy this fall to pursue a degree in acting.

With no prior art experience other than taking his first drawing class this semester at LSC-Montgomery, second-place winner Steeve Calderon was excited to receive the scholarship.

“It inspires me to create more art,” he said. “Through this piece, my goal was to show people how intricate and well-structured God made us—even on a simple part of our body like the foot.”

Calderon, who plans on continuing his education to become a network engineer, used charcoal to sketch his own foot from an x-ray photo. He received a $350 scholarship and plans to put it toward next semester’s tuition at LSC-Montgomery.

Sabrina Camacho-Pessi received fourth place and a $250 scholarship for her piece entitled “Romana’s Foot and Hand.” Her work is a photograph taken using 35mm black and white film.

“It’s a picture of my sister’s feet,” she said. “I cannot stand her most of the time, but she looks good in pictures and apparently, her feet do, too.”

Camacho-Pessi is proud to have her artwork on display.

“For a student like me, having my artwork hanging somewhere in public feels like The Louvre for artists,” said Camacho-Pessi. “It’s good to be known for good things like my creative side.”

Also a winner in the scholarship contest was Jabari Turner, who received third place and a $300 scholarship.

With students submitting everything from charcoal or pastel drawings to photography, Rogers said Dr. Neville enjoys seeing the variety and fresh take on the assignment each year.

Dr. Neville is the medical and surgical director of Foot Health Care Centers, a multi-physician, multi-office group practice. He has proudly cared for the professional medical needs of the community for more than 22 years. His Woodlands office is located at 1120 Medical Plaza Drive, Suite 180.

LSC-Montgomery is located at 3200 College Park Drive, one-half mile west of Interstate 45, between Conroe and The Woodlands. For more information about the college, call (936) 273-7000, or visit www.LoneStar.edu/montgomery.
 
With more than 62,000 students in credit classes in spring 2010, and a total enrollment of nearly 85,000, Lone Star College System is the largest institution of higher education in the Houston area, and the second largest and the fastest-growing community college system in Texas. LSCS consists of five colleges including LSC-CyFair, LSC-Kingwood, LSC-Montgomery, LSC-North Harris, and LSC-Tomball, six centers, LSC-University Park, LSC-University Center at Montgomery, LSC-University Center at University Park, Lone Star Corporate College, and LSC-Online. To learn more visit LoneStar.edu.