A student who is intellectually curious, good-natured, demonstrates humility and wishes to pursue a career in architecture, landscape architecture a or related design field may apply for the inaugural Jack Curtis Memorial Scholarship for Architecture.
Dolly Curtis and her daughter, Kara Curtis, founded the scholarship in honor of Dolly’s late husband following the architecture exhibition she curated in the Easton Public Library. Motivated by the event, they decided to start the scholarship at Joel Barlow High School.
“It was quite beautiful,” Dolly said. “We had 100 people come to the reception. It was fun. People even came to find an architect to hire!”
Jack Curtis worked as a landscape architect gaining major recognition in the U.S., according to Dolly. He was working on the Barlow recreation facilities in the 1970s, which brought the family to Easton. His office, Jack Curtis and Associates, was in Monroe.
“We have lived in Easton 45 years,” Dolly said. “Our two children are Barlow graduates with very interesting and successful career paths. Barlow served them well for their pre-college schooling.”
Jason Curtis is a glass blower with 35 years experience living in New Hope Pa., an artist community. Kara has a corporate job with CVS AETNA and lives in Boston. She also has 30 years of experience working in the policy segment of the health insurance industry focused on medicare/medicaid patients.
“But it is Jack Curtis’ legacy that prompted the scholarship, to motivate another young person to pursue their own career goals in architecture as Jack did at Penn State University,” Dolly said. “It came to me and I inquired about it. Sure enough, the staff person at Barlow, Kara and I created the scholarship award.”
Although it was the first time, in short order they had a recipient designated, and the award will be be given on May 31 at the Barlow award ceremony.
“I am thrilled,” Dolly said. “Jack, low-key guy that he wass, might have liked this incentive scholarship a lot. He came here to Easton to design earlier athletic facilities and liked the open space designation in Easton. I was working in a women’s artist co op gallery in Soho in New York City at the time, driving from Norwalk three time per week.”
They had two elementary school-age children at the time, ages 7 and 9. They settled on Easton because it was 1.5 miles to the Merritt Parkway exit, the road to New York City. Dolly described herself as a soccer mom on certain days and New York City exhibiting artist on other days.
“The awards at Barlow seem to be numerous and wonderfully inspirational,” she said. “I am so proud to be doing this. It’s all new to me. I knew of our arts council awards but never thought about how one affords it or accomplished it. Barlow could not have been more helpful and interested. So that is the best of what came as a result of the architecture exhibition for our family.”
