I woke up to find this delightful note that several of us at Wake Forest received by email this morning from Paris:

“This is Amanda Bowers, a junior at WFU. She is in the Louvre painting ‘Les ombres de Francesca da Rimini et de Paolo Malatesta apparaissent a Dante et a Virgil’ by Ary Scheffer.

The concentration required in this setting is amazing. Thousands of people have come by her, taken photos, sometimes with flash, tap her on the shoulder and point right up to her painting, asking her questions. They are advised to not speak to anyone and to wear headphones because of the noise and to reduce distraction.

Amanda Bowers (’12) paints in the Louvre

We imagine that she is the first WFU student to paint in the Louvre. We’ll be having lunch with her shortly.

Wow,

Karyn and Tom”

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It’s a magical moment, and it had to be especially marvelous for Karyn Dingledine. Here’s what Wake Forest Magazine said about her and her husband, Tom, last year in celebrating her love of art and patronage for WFU art students. I think it bears repeating:

Landscape painter Karyn Dingledine knows exactly what it is like to dream about attending college but not have the means to make that dream come true. She also knows how just a little bit of support can transform a young person’s life. She’s lived it personally. And now, through the Karyn Dingledine Scholarship in Art, she is sharing the investment once made in her with students at Wake Forest.

Karyn Dingledine and her husband, Tom (MBA ’78), a member of the Board of Trustees, endowed the Karyn Dingledine Art Scholarship Fund for students planning to major or minor in studio art. Undergraduate financial aid is a major priority of Wake Forest President Nathan Hatch.

The first recipient of the Dingledine Scholarship is Amanda Bowers, a rising sophomore from Maui, Hawaii. “I am so thankful you’ve created a scholarship that supports the arts,” she wrote in a letter to the Dingledines. “I am even more thankful that it was given to me, and I am honored to be the first recipient. I want you to know that it was because of you that I was able to do so.

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I don’t know about you, but I love Paris in springtime, and I love that Amanda is following her passion in the heart of the city. — Maria