Post 633: PWAS 16th Scholarship Award Given to Emma Rodriguez-Monge

PWAS 16th Scholarship Award Given to Emma Rodriguez-Monge

Monday, May 25, 2026 Woodbridge, Virginia. The Prince William Art Society (PWAS) celebrated their annual Jewell Pratt Burns Scholarship Award with the winning candidate Emma Rodriguez-Monge and her family at the art group's monthly meeting at the Tall Oaks Community building in Lake Ridge.

Emma Rodriguez-Monge

Emma is the winner of the 17th Scholarship given to Prince William County's graduating senior going on to study at George Mason this fall. A meeting in pictures as follows, click on an image to enlarge:

 

Emma with the PWAS Board 

 

Emma answering questions from the members and talking about her art works 

 

Emma with her family  

PWAS wishes Emma all the best in her future in life and ART!

The PWAS Scholarship

The idea for an art scholarship was first broached by Alice LaBier in 2007 (the PWAS President at that time), but the first award was given out in 2008. We did not award any scholarship at all for two years during Covid (2020-2021) because the public schools were closed. The art group meet on Zoom for awhile and started meeting again in person sometime mid 2021 or so.

This is the 16th Jewell Pratt Burns Scholarship given out to a deserving high school student graduating this year that is pursuing an education and future in the arts. The art group gives out 1 or 2 Scholarships a year so more than 16 students have received this award over the years.

The Scholarship is named after a PWAS Member, Jewell Burns. Who is Jewell Pratt Burns? She is a marvelous original member of the Prince William Art Society and her story is told here: 

An Interview with Jewell Pratt Burns 

Some samples of her works are here Jewell Burns Showcase Page 

And read more about the PWAS Jewell Pratt Burns Scholarship Award here.  

Emma goes to and will graduate from Forest Park and her recommending teacher was Ms. Alyssa Tice. She will major in Visual Arts and Tech, with a minor in film, at nearby George Mason. Emma was unable to present her animated work during the meeting, but she does original digital work that is quite polished, and the work books she had on the table showed multiple planning and hand drawn steps in the development of some of her digital and hand drawn or painted work. She has just begun to explore some of the traditional mediums and shows enthusiasm for trying out new traditional mediums and digital tools. 

We would love to hear about Emma's journey and hope she stays in touch.

And a big thank you goes to Emily Hawes and her Scholarship Program Team for all the legwork that goes into finding and processing the nominees for the Scholarship every year and a HUGE thank you to Miss Jewell Pratt Burns herself, who could not be at the meeting this year but is still, very definitely, hands on! 

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Author: Emily Hawes

Author: Donna Liguria is the Blogmaster for the PWAS Artistry Spin Blog and Donna's Cave Paintings Blog, and an artist member of the Prince William Art Society (PWAS) in Woodbridge, Virginia. And she takes on the PWAS social media duties as well (help me!) Donna specializes in acrylic painting of landscapes, seascapes, historic locations, animals and many subjects. Visit her Website at DonnaLiguriaArt.com and her Donna's Esty site to shop her art. 

Photographers: Donna Merchant, Tinnetta Putney, Gennifine Jalloh, and Donna Liguria

Local Art: The Prince William Art Society is a 50+-year-old non-profit art group in PWC for the appreciation of fine art throughout the county and Northern Virginia. Visit us at any of our local art shows or join us for our monthly meetings - held on the 4th Monday of the month at the Tall Oaks Community Center at 12298 Cotton Mill Dr, Woodbridge, VA at 7:30pm (typically, but check the website in case of any changes).

Want to join PWAS? Go to https://www.princewilliamartsociety.com/membership

Have an idea for a blog post? Are you a writer and want to help with the blog? Let me know! Thank you for visiting, and remember to Share, Follow, and Comment (below)! ...Remember, comments are monitored so they will not show up immediately.

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Post 629: PWAS Meeting Will Celebrate the Jewell Pratt Burns Scholarship Award Winner Mon May 25, 2026

PWAS Meeting Will Celebrate the Jewell Pratt Burns Scholarship Award Winner Mon May 25, 2026

Monday, May 25, 2026 at the Tall Oaks Community Building at 12298 Cotton Mill Road, Lake Ridge, Virginia is the monthly Prince William Art Society meeting. We will be celebrating our annual Scholarship Program, so come by and meet the winner and the art group at 7:30pm.

 

2022 Jewell Pratt Burns Scholarship Awards with left to right: Ayanna Rowe, Ana Quispe, Jewell Pratt Burns, and Anne Wu 

2026 Jewell Pratt Burns Scholarship Award

Think about how much fun it is when your art work is selected... when you are selected! Chosen because someone appreciates your work, your effort and your skill.

Now think about being in high school, facing the end of your senior year, and planning your future. Pretty exciting and scary, right? All of a sudden your life is filled with applications and interviews: Maybe college applications, maybe summer jobs, internships, scholarships.

Sometimes you're just not right for an opportunity, or it's just not right for you. And then you're chosen for some: You've been accepted to a college, you win a scholarship... because someone thinks you have the talent to succeed in the future you've decided to commit yourself to working toward. What powerful votes of confidence those are, and with meaningful help at this pivotal time.

Each year our PWAS membership provides the Jewell Pratt Burns Scholarship (JPB) to help one or two students pursue their dream of getting a degree in the Fine Arts or in Art Education, to increase their opportunities for working in the Fine Art field. This year's JPB Scholarship Award has been generously donated by Jewell Pratt Burns, founding member of the Prince William Art Society. Come to the general membership meeting on May 25th at 7:30 PM and help celebrate our student scholarship winner. Support them as they receive their award, talk with them and their family over cake and ice cream, and enjoy being a part of this celebration.

Membership meetings are held at the Tall Oaks Community Center, 12298 Cotton Mill Dr., Lakeridge, VA 22192. Meetings start at 7:30 PM. All programs are free and open to the public, who are cordially invited to attend.

PWAS History...

Jewell Pratt Burns is an original member of the Prince William Art Society. To learn more about Jewell, please see her Interview here. And for the history of PWAS, see this very first Artistry Spin Blog Post here. 

For some Past Winners, see 

2025 PWAS Scholarship 2025 Faith Garcia Young

2024 PWAS Scholarships Presented to Two PWC High School Students 2024

2023 Prince William Art Society Scholarship Award Night

2022 PWAS Scholarship Winners

And the first Scholarship Program on this blog was some history, see that here. 

See you at the meeting! Will you be there?? How many PWAS Scholarships have you seen awarded? Drop a comment below. 

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Author: Emily Hawes

Author: Donna Liguria is the Blogmaster for the PWAS Artistry Spin Blog and Donna's Cave Paintings Blog, and an artist member of the Prince William Art Society (PWAS) in Woodbridge, Virginia. And she takes on the PWAS social media duties as well (help me!) Donna specializes in acrylic painting of landscapes, seascapes, historic locations, animals and many subjects. Visit her Website at DonnaLiguriaArt.com and her Donna's Esty site to shop her art. 

Local Art: The Prince William Art Society is a 50+-year-old non-profit art group in PWC for the appreciation of fine art throughout the county and Northern Virginia. Visit us at any of our local art shows or join us for our monthly meetings - held on the 4th Monday of the month at the Tall Oaks Community Center at 12298 Cotton Mill Dr, Woodbridge, VA at 7:30pm (typically, but check the website in case of any changes).

Want to join PWAS? Go to https://www.princewilliamartsociety.com/membership

Have an idea for a blog post? Are you a writer and want to help with the blog? Let me know! Thank you for visiting, and remember to Share, Follow, and Comment (below)! ...Remember, comments are monitored so they will not show up immediately.

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Post 621: A Great PWAS Meeting with Otis Stanley

A Great PWAS Meeting with Otis Stanley

The members of the Prince William Art Society (PWAS) and several visiting artists, met on Monday, April 27 at the Tall Oaks Community Building at 7:30pm for their monthly meeting. We had a wonderful meeting with a special guest speaker, a time for social interaction, and got caught up on the upcoming business of the art group.

Guest Speaker Otis Stanley

Our guest speaker for April was PWAS member, Otis Stanley, who gave a wonderful talk on his life and artistic journey, finding the Prince William Art Society, learning to display art and talking about several artworks he had painted and on display. It is so inspiring to hear the story behind the artworks he creates, the feeling and the deep history found in so many of his pieces. And thank you for your service, Otis!

Many of us remember the time when we were part of the art gallery over at the Stonebridge Shopping Center (2021-2023) and were working as a gallery volunteers with Otis and his knack for getting people in to see the art... some of whom later became PWAS members! Otis is a treasure of a person and such an amazing artist.

A few pics from Ana Quispe: 

The Business of PWAS

Welcome to all of our new members - there were a lot of new faces, so great to see you! 

There are some very important upcoming dates for everyone that we discussed. 

Thursday, April 30 is the deadline to ENTER the Jul/Aug PWAS ARTfactory art show for PWAS MEMBERS! The theme is Nostalgia.

Saturday, May 2 Art in the Garden with Plein Air Artists Robert Dew and David Dillon - see the notices on the PWAS website for more info. Prince William Art Society

Saturday, May 2 PWAS Spring Tall Oaks Show at 12298 Cotton Mill Drive is our biannual show for an art show, rain or shine, right there in Lake Ridge 10-5. 

Monday, May 25 the next PWAS meeting will be when we award our Annual Scholarship to a graduating local high school senior that will be going forward and studying a career in art. Come and enjoy this wonderful celebration.

Monday, June 15 is the deadline for PWAS Members to submit their ideas for a new PWAS Logo. Watch your emails for info on this. 

July 10-Aug 9 is the PWAS at the ARTfactory Art Show featuring the member artworks with the theme of Nostalgia. This is a juried show and the deadline to enter is above, Apr 30.

Saturday, Sept 12 is the potential date for the 'new' Arts Alive art show at the Hylton Performing Art Center. More info to come on that later. Info TBD.

Saturday, Oct 5 should be the Fall Tall Oaks Art Show - dates and times and show coordinator TBD. 

Also discussed were some upcoming art classes (available on the PWAS website). 

As I like to say, miss a meeting and you miss a lot! See you at the next one!

Drop a comment below! 

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Photos: Donna Liguria, Ana Quispe

Author: Donna Liguria is the Blogmaster for the PWAS Artistry Spin Blog and Donna's Cave Paintings Blog, and an artist member of the Prince William Art Society (PWAS) in Woodbridge, Virginia. And she takes on the PWAS social media duties as well (help me!) Donna specializes in acrylic painting of landscapes, seascapes, historic locations, animals and many subjects. Visit her Website at DonnaLiguriaArt.com and her Donna's Esty site to shop her art. 

Local Art: The Prince William Art Society is a 50+-year-old non-profit art group in PWC for the appreciation of fine art throughout the county and Northern Virginia. Visit us at any of our local art shows or join us for our monthly meetings - held on the 4th Monday of the month at the Tall Oaks Community Center at 12298 Cotton Mill Dr, Woodbridge, VA at 7:30pm (typically, but check the website in case of any changes).

Want to join PWAS? Go to https://www.princewilliamartsociety.com/membership

Have an idea for a blog post? Are you a writer and want to help with the blog? Let me know! Thank you for visiting, and remember to Share, Follow, and Comment (below)! ...Remember, comments are monitored so they will not show up immediately.

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Post 619: PWAS Meeting Mon Apr 27 with Guest Artist Otis Stanley

PWAS Meeting Mon Apr 27 with Guest Artist Otis Stanley

The Prince William Art Society, known as PWAS (pronounced "p-whauzz") is a 55 year old nonprofit art group in Prince William County, VA that meets monthly on the 4th Monday of the month. The group meets at 12298 Cotton Mill Drive, Lake Ridge, VA at the Tall Oaks Community Center at 7:30pm. Meetings often have a guest speaker and for April, we'll feature PWAS Member Otis Stanley.

PWAS Meeting

On April 27 at 7:30 PM the Prince William Art Society will hold their monthly meeting at the Lake Ridge Community Center, 22192 Cotton Mill Road, Lake Ridge 22192. Monthly meetings feature a guest or member artist, a project, a show-and-share or our scholarship presentation. This month, members are invited to enjoy the work and philosophy of our accomplished member artist Otis L. Stanley, followed by a business meeting presenting opportunities to be involved in community arts. All members of the community are invited to attend these free meetings and art presentations. 

For PWAS member Otis L. Stanley, art is simply living. Often painting in monochromatic colors Otis creates art that reflects his experiences and culture. Acrylic paint is his choice of mediums. Never conforming to popular themes Otis would rather tread a road less traveled to invite conversation about the work. Hoping to shine a light on the common humanity of us all Otis is at peace in his lane of subjects. 

Otis has work hung in Va., Md., D.C., Pa., N.Y., N.J., Conn., La, Calif., S.C., Fla. and Tring U.K. Here is where you can view Otis' work:  @otisstanley9127 on Youtube, and on instagram he is @otislstanley.

March Meeting Collage Activity

Last month members and guests ripped, tore and glued collages to create abstracts or landscapes, portraiture, or narrative or figurative backdrops. Everyone was encouraged to take their collage home and use pen, paint or mediums of their choice on them - to alter them, add outline or detail, or simply to use the backdrop as a taking off point for another style of contrasting work. There was already a wide variety of interpretations as we left that night. See https://artistryspin.blogspot.com/2026/03/post-609-pwas-meeting-mon-mar-23-2026.html

Bring your altered collage back on the 27th to lay out on a side table to share. Anyone who missed last month can try a torn or cut paper collage (magazine scraps are perfect) on any mixed media paper, then use the dry collage as a backdrop for something going a little bit further. Then bring them in.

See you at the meeting! 

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Author: Donna Liguria is the Blogmaster for the PWAS Artistry Spin Blog and Donna's Cave Paintings Blog, and an artist member of the Prince William Art Society (PWAS) in Woodbridge, Virginia. And she takes on the PWAS social media duties as well (help me!) Donna specializes in acrylic painting of landscapes, seascapes, historic locations, animals and many subjects. Visit her Website at DonnaLiguriaArt.com and her Donna's Esty site to shop her art. 

Local Art: The Prince William Art Society is a 50+-year-old non-profit art group in PWC for the appreciation of fine art throughout the county and Northern Virginia. Visit us at any of our local art shows or join us for our monthly meetings - held on the 4th Monday of the month at the Tall Oaks Community Center at 12298 Cotton Mill Dr, Woodbridge, VA at 7:30pm (typically, but check the website in case of any changes).

Want to join PWAS? Go to https://www.princewilliamartsociety.com/membership

Have an idea for a blog post? Are you a writer and want to help with the blog? Let me know! Thank you for visiting, and remember to Share, Follow, and Comment (below)! ...Remember, comments are monitored so they will not show up immediately.

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Post 613: PWAS Meeting Mon Mar 23, 2026 in Pics

PWAS Meeting Mon Mar 23, 2026 in Pics

The nonprofit art group called Prince William Art Society, or PWAS, meets once a month at 12298 Cotton Mill Drive, Woodbridge, VA.That's the 4th Monday every month, except for December, at 7:30pm and the public is welcome to attend. The meetings are comprised of the usually an art topic program, some socializing with snacks and beverages and a bit of business of the art group. And you never know what creative people will come up with!

Art Project Pictures

Let's have a look at what the members were working on...

A big thank you to Evelyn Chatters for the pictures, as I could not attend the meeting this past Monday but as I always say, you miss a meeting and you miss a lot! Did you have fun at the meeting?? A fun project to do? Let me know in the comments below.

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Photographer: Evelyn Chatters

Author: Donna Liguria is the Blogmaster for the PWAS Artistry Spin Blog and Donna's Cave Paintings Blog, and an artist member of the Prince William Art Society (PWAS) in Woodbridge, Virginia. And she takes on the PWAS social media duties as well (help me!) Donna specializes in acrylic painting of landscapes, seascapes, historic locations, animals and many subjects. Visit her Website at DonnaLiguriaArt.com and her Donna's Esty site to shop her art. 

Local Art: The Prince William Art Society is a 50+-year-old non-profit art group in PWC for the appreciation of fine art throughout the county and Northern Virginia. Visit us at any of our local art shows or join us for our monthly meetings - held on the 4th Monday of the month at the Tall Oaks Community Center at 12298 Cotton Mill Dr, Woodbridge, VA at 7:30pm (typically, but check the website in case of any changes).

Want to join PWAS? Go to https://www.princewilliamartsociety.com/membership

Have an idea for a blog post? Are you a writer and want to help with the blog? Let me know! Thank you for visiting, and remember to Share, Follow, and Comment (below)! ...Remember, comments are monitored so they will not show up immediately.

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