MEMORIAL & TRIBUTE GIVING

Gifts made in honour of a beloved family member, faculty, staff or alumnus provide a tribute to the individual while supporting an institution that was dear to them.

Donations collected through memorial or tribute funds are awarded to students who do not have the financial means to attend or continue with a college education, but possess an abundant talent and drive to succeed. Your gift will go a long way to supporting their education now and easing the burden of loans after graduation. Memorial and tribute gifts are program specific and we are pleased to provide you with a list of bursaries that honour Sheridan faculty. They include:

• John R. Wood Memorial Award
• Gerry Zeldin: Life Drawing for Animation Scholarship
• Ron Cameron-Lewis Award Fund
• Jura Seskus Award Fund
• Brian Brush Memorial Fund   
• Larry Comeau Memorial Fund
• Megan J. Kenny Scholarship Fund
• Jack Schnoor Memorial Fund
• Dr. Annie Smith Awards Fund

Your support is needed to help these funds grow, enabling as many students as possible to receive the benefits of a post-secondary education. If you wish to make a gift to a specific fund, please indicate the name of the fund when making your donation.

As a donor, your name is listed in our Convocation Guide distributed to over 9,000 guests at our graduation ceremonies. You also receive a tax receipt for your donation. A notification card is also sent to the family.

JOHN R. WOOD MEMORIAL AWARD

John R. Wood was the founding co-ordinator of the Illustration Program at Sheridan College. His unwavering commitment to the art and craft of illustration provided an exceptional learning experience for students that was unparalleled. In his honour, an award has been established to support students in the Bachelor of Applied Arts (Illustration) Program.  

GERRY ZELDIN: LIFE DRAWING FOR ANIMATION SCHOLARSHIP

Beloved Sheridan professor Gerry Zeldin passed away on May 20, 2010 following a long battle with cancer. Gerry was a life drawing professor in the School of Animation, Arts and Design and will be deeply missed by his many colleagues and former students. In the near future, the Sheridan community, together with Gerry’s friends and family, will gather to celebrate his life and contributions to Sheridan.

Today, we are asking you to join us in honouring Gerry’s legacy by contributing to the Gerry Zeldin: Life Drawing for Animation Scholarship that has been established in his memory.

Gerry was born in Toronto, Ontario in 1943. For Gerry, the defining moment in his life came on a short visit to New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art where he resolved to become a painter. He graduated from the Ontario College of Art in 1965 and earned his Master of Fine Art at Claremont Graduate School in California in 1967.

Gerry’s prolific career included numerous solo and group art exhibitions. He was commissioned to produce large scale, site-specific public murals in varying media throughout North America. His art is included in the collections of the Art Gallery of Hamilton, the City of Toronto, the Art Gallery of Ontario, and the Art Gallery of Boston, as well as in many private collections. Gerry had a passion for music, particularly old jazz of the 30s and 40s and his art work depicted that passion. His work was also featured in many printed publications throughout his long career.

His many contributions to Sheridan included working as the program coordinator and Life Drawing professor and mentor in the Art Fundamentals, Classical Animation and the Bachelor of Applied Arts (Animation) programs. He was an enormously positive force in the global animation community and leaves an outstanding legacy within Sheridan’s programs. Gerry was also a guest lecturer and teacher at many organizations including the University of Waterloo, University of Toronto, Disney Animation and the Art Gallery of Ontario.

Upon Gerry’s illness and passing, numerous posts have popped up on animation blogs across the continent paying tribute to Gerry and the impact he had on so many people. Gerry brought energy and excitement to his class fueling the creative juices of his students. They knew if he liked their work when he’d yell “That’s a Cracker Jack drawing!”

Your support to the Gerry Zeldin: Life Drawing for Animation Scholarship will provide funding and recognition to students who possess abundant talent in the arts. Your support goes a long way to ensure funding is available to some of our country’s most promising young artists. Donors of $100 or more will also be invited to the 2011 Animation Industry Day Awards Ceremony where Gerry’s Scholarship will be awarded for the first time.

RON CAMERON-LEWIS AWARD FUND

This past December, Ron Cameron-Lewis retired from teaching within the Theatre program cluster at Sheridan after 36 extraordinary years. To acknowledge his remarkable career, the Ron Cameron-Lewis Award Fund has been created.

As a senior member of the faculty, Ron mentored thousands of students as well as many new faculty members, including the current program coordinators. However, he has carried the Sheridan flag much further than that, to the point where his influence stretches not only across the province of Ontario, but also across North America and beyond.

His book of exercises and rehearsal ideas for the novice actor and director, Acting Skills for Life, has been through multiple editions over the last two decades and is the standard introductory text for many colleges and high schools.

Throughout everything, and quite apart from his meticulous and insightful teaching skills, Ron Cameron-Lewis has displayed such an exemplary talent for friendship, mentoring, and for communicating and networking that it sets him apart from anyone else in his field. Long after his retirement his legacy will live on, not only in the thousands of lives and careers he has touched so deeply, but in thousands more he has never even encountered.