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Student Creates Organization for Artistic Development

The extent to which a young person can make a positive difference serving others is realized when one considers the generosity and hard work of student Charles Bunce.

Bunce, an Alma College sophomore from St. Louis, recently developed and runs an organization that grants money to artists to help pay for their education and resources. 

He says the idea for the organization traces back to a class taught by Alma College Professor Ed Lorenz during his freshman year that studied the interconnection of humanities and geography.

 

“The text and class itself had a great influence on me and showed me that a lot of people struggled in the world and also that, in some cases, progress and opportunities were limited because of economic obstacles,” Bunce recalls. 
Bunce also gives kudos to his parents, Mark and Melodie Bunce. Mark is lab coordinator for the science division in the Dow Science Center at Alma College.

“While De. Lorenz’s class inspired me to do something for the world, it is my parents that made me into a person that would even think of doing that,” he says.  “My parents have helped me so much and have always stood by me no matter what.”

The most important thing Bunce learned was that he had the capacity to make a lasting and meaningful difference in others’ lives. Combining his wish to affect positive change and his interest in art, and collaborating with two computer-programming friends, Bunce created the Fund for Artistic Development. 

The Fund for Artistic Development is dedicated to providing yearly grants to artists of exceptional potential and talent in order to further their artistic skills as well as providing general funding to allow them to maintain or pursue their artistic endeavors. Grants may be awarded to artists pursuing an art degree and/or career, as well as to those who particularly enjoy art as a hobby and can use the money to further that hobby. 

 “Overall, the organization focuses on growth, potential, talent and, most importantly, trying to make people happy,” says Bunce. 

“I believe in making people happy, and I believe in human progress,” he adds.  “There is a lot of potential out there that is waiting to be unleashed that can change the world.”

Bunce originally planned to run the organization via email, contacting artists whose work caught his eye and asking whether they would be interested in receiving a grant. After meeting and teaming up online with Caleb Langeslag of Minnesota and Nathan Miller of Alabama, the organization expanded and formalized into a Website, www.fundartists.com, where visitors can read about the project and connect to a fund raising and donations page.  Bunce provides nearly all the funding for the grants from his pocket money and paychecks.

Bunce is majoring in biology at Alma College. After Alma and graduate studies, he plans on becoming a gerontologist. 

-ep-

 

 

Alma is one of seven Michigan colleges and universities to hold membership in the Omicron Delta Kappa Society, the national leadership society that recognizes and encourages superior scholarship, leadership and exemplary character. The College also has 19 other national departmental honor societies.

 

Student Profile

Brett Seymoure

Brett Seymoure
Graduation: 2009
Major: Biology
From: Paw Paw, Michigan
Interests: Sports, Politics

Alma’s close faculty-student interaction provides numerous benefits such as the ability to do undergraduate research on a graduate level. Alma’s professors treat students more as peers welcoming student input and collaboration on faculty projects. When students are involved in research, faculty aggressively pursue publication of findings including students as co-authors.