Congratulations to Katerina Lecourezos, the 2023 Kathleen Monahan Foundation Fund Scholarship recipient. The fund provides financial support for Tarpon Springs high school seniors pursuing a performing arts education or career.
The mission of the Kathleen Monahan Foundation Fund (KMFF) is to support, promote and fund the performing arts and arts education opportunities for arts organizations, professional artists, and residents of the greater Tarpon Springs community. The KMFF aims to increase the ability of people from all cultural and economic backgrounds to experience the joy and wonder the performing arts bring to our lives.
A PCF staff member and Kathleen Monahan Foundation Fund representatives Dave Wladaver, Kathleen Monahan, and Brian Orlick present Katerina Lecourezos, center, with an oversized check for the 2023 Kathleen Monahan Foundation Fund Scholarship at last month’s grant presentation ceremony. Behind them is a mural at Tarpon Springs Cultural Center by Elizabeth Indianos called “This Blessed Plot, This Earth,” depicting the history of Tarpon Springs, including Spanish conquistadors, Native Americans, and Florida wildlife, from the 1500s until the present day.
Pinellas Community Foundation interviewed Katerina Lecourezos, 18, during the grant presentation at the Tarpon Springs Cultural Center last month.
Q: How did you get involved in the arts?
Katerina: My first memories of loving the arts go back to when I was a toddler. I remember watching the “Baby Einstein” series and learning about classical music and instruments.
When I was four years old, I sang songs from “Phantom of the Opera” around the house. I was seven when I was cast in my very first stage performance, which was with Tarpon Arts. I played the Unicorn in “The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.” Soon after, I played Dick Deadeye in “HMS Pinafore,” again with Tarpon Arts. Since then, I have been involved with countless plays, musicals, and films.
Q: How do you envision your future as an artist?
Katerina: As a graduate of Pinellas County Center for the Arts at Gibbs High School, I feel that I have a jump start to my career in the film industry. I have accepted an offer to attend the Visual and Media Arts program at Emerson College in Boston. My plan is to graduate with a BFA in film. I would love to intern in LA, New York, or the Boston area and eventually work myself up the ranks to where my name is on the big screen, this time as a director.
Q: How do you feel about receiving the Kathleen Monahan Foundation Fund Scholarship?
Katerina: Applying for scholarships is one thing, but being awarded one from an organization, which truly supports the arts, is another. I am extremely grateful and honored to have been awarded this generous scholarship by the foundation. It will help me work toward my goal of obtaining my BFA at Emerson.
Q: How do you give back to the community currently?
Katerina: Over the years, I have continually volunteered to help make my community a better place. For example, one way is helping the less fortunate in such ways as delivering and serving food for Thanksgiving and Christmas, working in a kitchen for setup and cleanup for different community events, wrapping Christmas gifts for children, and helping coordinate a dinner-dance fundraiser that benefited a local orphanage.
During the pandemic, I helped pack food boxes that were delivered to the hungry. Last year, five local families lost their homes to a fire, so I helped collect clothing, furniture, and other supplies to help them. Our town was very fortunate to have missed Hurricane Ian. Others further south of us were not as fortunate. My community collected all sorts of things, from food to generators to clothing, toiletries, laundry detergent, and furniture. I helped pack boxes and load trucks. Working together as a family to help one another is very rewarding. During my time at school, I would like to continue my volunteerism.
About the Kathleen Monahan Foundation Fund
Kathleen Monahan is singularly responsible for making Tarpon Springs a major regional center for the performing arts. As the founding director of cultural and civic services for Tarpon Springs, Kathleen has developed a full range of programs, including concerts, musicals, drama, dance, and lecture series, which are now performed in four venues within Tarpon Springs. The KMFF was founded by the late renowned golf course developer and philanthropist Brent Wadsworth and his wife, Jean, to recognize Kathleen’s contributions to the arts in Tarpon Springs.