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Letter to the editor

Surgeon lifts hopes of arts students

He pays most of the bills for the Rising Stars contest, a scholarship competition now in its second year.

By PAUL SWIDER
Published May 4, 2005

After years of philanthropy for national organizations, Dr. Jeffrey Walker felt something was missing - until he ran into Dick Clark of American Bandstand fame.

Walker was part of an event for Clark's American Music Fund when he learned of a Los Angeles scholarship program for students of the arts.

He got an idea. He could create a local program like the one in California.

"There's very little funding for arts education," said Walker, a Treasure Island neurosurgeon who works out of St. Anthony's and Northside hospitals. "I thought this would be a great thing for kids."

Walker approached the Pinellas Education Foundation a year and a half ago and proposed a competition. He would put up the money, he told them.

This Friday night, 20 finalists, Pinellas County juniors and seniors, will compete in Walker's Rising Stars contest, now in its second year.

And most of the bills go to Walker, who is contributing about $150,000 to the overall program from his own pocket.

First-place winners in each of five categories - dance, instrumental, theater, vocal and visual arts - get $10,000 scholarships and their schools get $2,000. Second-place winners get $3,000; third-place, $2,000; fourth-place, $1,000.

Other donors in the community, including Brighthouse Networks and Progress Energy, are starting to embrace the contest, but Walker is still the main benefactor.

Walker said he hopes to replicate the program throughout the Tampa Bay area. He said he finds it ironic that people are willing to spend millions of dollars for an art museum in Tampa, but that a program like Walker's Rising Stars, cheap by comparison, is the only one in the region.

"They're talking about spending $75-million to build a museum," he said. "But that's all about the past. These kids are the future."

Last year's show at the Mahaffey Theater at Bayfront Center drew some 1,300 spectators, and organizers say this year's promises to bring more.

"You're going to see kids who are going to Juilliard (School of Music) and the Joffrey Ballet, kids that are going to be performing at Carnegie Hall, and some of them already have," said Rich Engwall, senior vice president of the foundation.

Each student gets three minutes to perform; a video of each visual artist's portfolio will showcase their entries.

Students applied for the competition in the fall. There have been two earlier rounds for performers, so Friday will be the last chance to change the existing standings. Visual artists, such as sculptors and painters, will also learn their results on Friday.

Lori Hempfling, who coordinates the event for the foundation, said the students represent a diverse cross section of the county's demographics, though only five schools are represented: Pinellas County Center for the Arts at Gibbs High School, St. Petersburg High School, Seminole High School, Tarpon Springs High School and Palm Harbor University High School. PCCA, an arts magnet program, counts 14 of 20 finalists for Friday night.

Walker does more than fund the competition. In addition to serving on the foundation's board, he calls Engwall and Hempfling constantly with suggestions for the competition. Yet, he said he and his family have no extraordinary personal connection to the arts.

Walker, 51, has been in this area for 20 years, though he was born in Wisconsin and grew up in Texas before being educated at Duke University. His 18-year-old daughter recently graduated from Seminole High School, his 16-year-old son is a student there, and his 14-year-old daughter will start there next year. His children studied painting privately, but are not avid artists.

Nor is Walker.

"My talent is neurosurgery," he offered modestly. "But I found that arts education is a need.

"This is something that should be done in every school district."

The Walker's Rising Stars scholarship competition, Mahaffey Theater, 400 First St. S. 7 to 9 p.m. Friday. A $5 donation is suggested. For more information, call 588-4816.

[Last modified May 4, 2005, 00:57:19]