Five island high school graduates have received $1,000 each in scholarships toward their artistic college studies from the Island Arts Council.

Justin Hanrahan, Alison Pate, Barbara Haupt, Cameron Gray and Mark Arand were chosen after submitting an application and auditioning or interviewing in front of a panel of judges.

The five students were chosen from a field of 12 which included student musicians, singers, actors, composers, writers and fine artists.

Hanrahan just graduated from Oak Harbor High School and plans to continue the study of drawing.

Hanrahan said he was inspired by his art teacher, Jon Aesoph, as well as by his design teachers, Sabrina Underwood and Paula Ottenbreit, to reveal his creative side. His artwork made the cover page of the school annual.

He plans to attend Skagit Valley College in the fall with plans to move on to an arts-based college after that.

Pate is a graduate of the class of 2008 at South Whidbey High School. Although she knew she was an artist at heart as soon as she learned to hold a pencil, her medium of choice for the past four years has been photography. She will attend Linfield College in McMinnville, Ore. next year, with a major in studio art and an emphasis on photography. Pate is considering a double major in Spanish.

Haupt is a writer and a 2008 graduate of South Whidbey High School. She was recently a columnist with the South Whidbey Record. Haupt studied abroad in Argentina last year while learning to speak fluent Spanish and do some exploratory traveling.

She will attend Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson, N.Y., where she will study literature, writing, possibly journalism, sociology, psychology and anthropology.

Gray is also a recent 2008 graduate of South Whidbey High School and plays trumpet and piano. He was the lead trumpet player with the South Whidbey High School Jazz Ensemble, a 2008 finalist in the distinguished Essentially Ellington High School Jazz Band Festival and Competition.

Gray is also a theater performer who was seen in various productions at Whidbey Island Center for the Arts and the Whidbey Children’s Theater.

He is also a member of the a cappella quartet SlapHappy.

He will attend the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, B.C. in the fall to study performing arts and mathematics.

Arand is another 2008 graduate of South Whidbey High School who excels in the fields of music and theater performance.

Arand has appeared on stage in several productions at South Whidbey High School and the Whidbey Children’s Theater.

He was lead trombone in the South Whidbey High School Jazz Ensemble and his section was recognized as the best trombone section at the Essentially Ellington High School Jazz Band Festival and Competition at Lincoln Center in May.

Arand also sang in the high school choir and was a recipient of the National Choral Student award. He is a founding member of the a cappella quartet SlapHappy.

Arand plans on studying theater and music next year at Whitman College in Walla Walla.

The Island Arts Council sponsors local organizations, events, programs and individual artists through various funding, scholarships and grants.

High school scholarships are awarded to graduating seniors who are majoring in one of the fine arts or in the performing arts in their first year of college. Scholarship applications for 2009 will be available through island high schools. Visit www.islandartscouncil.org for more on island arts.