The Art Institute of Tampa Welcomes Top Scholarship Finalist

TAMPA, Florida – November 1, 2006 – Local student, Joseph Kresz, a recent graduate of East Lake High School, Tarpon Springs, has won a $30,000 tuition scholarship to The Art Institute of Tampa. Joseph placed within the top third of the nationwide competition for the Evelyn Keedy Memorial Scholarship. He is the first student of The Art Institute of Tampa to win such an honor.

Each student was responsible for creating a resume and write two essays explaining their concept and their aspirations for the graphic design field.

Since an early age, Joseph was fascinated with the world of video games. At first it was quality time with his father, then it became a bonding experience with his younger brother playing the Sega game “Sonic the Hedgehog TM.” Though, when Joseph grew older and matured, so did his taste for the gaming industry. During his sophomore year of high school, he noticed the artists and creative teams were recognized for their work in ending credits, almost as if the staff had worked on a movie. That was the day he decided what he wanted to go to school for.

In preparation for his aspirations, Joseph has taken two years of private art instruction, he earned nothing lower than an “A” in all his art, computer and design courses, and has become familiar with art forms such as: abstract, realism and surrealism. In his essay he exclaimed, “[Art] helps me express something that I cant always do verbally. The field of game art interests me and allows me to create a new world or life from the inception.”

However he has not limited himself to the world of art. While attending East Lake High School, Joseph was involved in sports, volunteer organizations, various clubs, and he was a member of the National Honors Society.

Joseph’s poster that he designed for another contest, ‘Art leads to Innovation’, is a fascinating example of his creative abilities. This poster is a city landscape, going through the evolution of times. “My project was inspired by what the future might look like when you alter the designs of the past…to compare the present day architecture to the futuristic architecture with great precision, when placed next to each other. I used cuts and rips to dramatically emphasize the immediate differences in the future from the present.”

Joseph decided he wanted to attend The Art Institute of Tampa because of the in depth program of Game Design compared to other local art programs.

His mother is very supportive about his upcoming education “I’m thrilled! He is great at fine art, but I didn’t want him to become a starving artist. I saw the potential in this field.
It’s growing and he’ll have something with growing potential.”
In addition to the Evelyn Keedy Memorial Scholarship, Joseph also earned an additional $2,000 tuition scholarship from The Art Institutes. Joseph has begun his scholastic career this summer at The Art Institute of Tampa.

About The Art Institute of Tampa
The Art Institute of Tampa is one of The Art Institutes system of 32 education institutions located throughout North America, providing an important source of advertising, design and media arts professionals. The Art Institutes system of schools has provided career – oriented education programs for 40 years.