Family Scholarship Celebrates Three Generations
Local artist Sandra Mayo will give back to her community in a new way this fall, after creating an annual scholarship for deserving Castleton University students. Named the Mayo Family Scholarship, the award celebrates three prominent generations of women in the Mayo family, Sandra, her mother Beverly, and her daughter Kimberly, who have used their voices, talents, and life’s work in support of their communities.
“Over the past two decades living in Castleton, I have seen how the University integrates itself into the community and adds a tone of both scholarship and youth to the area,” Sandra said. “While out and about, I’ve spoken with many women students employed in the local restaurants. I feel a connection to the community and the University because of them.”
The Mayo Family Scholarship will be awarded annually beginning in the fall of 2020 to a returning Castleton student pursuing a degree in Art or Women’s and Gender Studies. The freedom that a quality education brings to individuals and desire to work toward a better world inspired Sandra to create the scholarship honoring her family legacy, as well as her high hopes for its recipients.
“Getting an education can bring about new freedoms for women and new chances for a better life, not just for individual women, but for the entire local and global community,” she said.
The scholarship marks the first of several new annual scholarships and endowments in support of student success created at Castleton since 2015.
About Sandra Mayo
Sandra Mayo, Ph.D., has exhibited her painting and printmaking in galleries throughout Vermont, including the Statehouse, curated shows with large collaborations of artists, has become a successful businesswoman, and has helped others do the same.
Sandra grew up in Massachusetts, spending her summers on Lake Bomoseen. She attended college in Boston then left to travel and experience life. Realizing she needed to complete her education, she returned to college to study art. It was attending a Masters of Fine Arts Program that her voice came to her. When planning her course of study, she was denied a study plan that focused on why there were so few women in art. Not to be silenced, she notified the University President and secured a meeting. Winning her argument, she completed a study of women’s art that led to her research on Barbie dolls and the role of women in Western Culture. For this, Sandra received a Ph.D. in Creative Art and Women’s Art History. Sandy continues to create art and work on issues regarding addiction and alcoholism. She especially supports women in recovery.
About Beverly Mayo
Beverly Mayo worked in the United States Senate, for many senators, including John and Edward Kennedy. She also worked in support of notable Vermont politicians such as Patrick Leahy, Madeline Kunin, Howard Dean, and James Douglas.
A resident of New England for most of her life, Sandra’s mother, Beverly Mayo, was a devoted Democrat. Raising her family in Western Massachusetts, she returned to Castleton to live on both Lake Bomoseen and her daughter’s farm after the death of her husband. It was in Vermont that Beverly truly found her political voice. From four governors, Democrats and Republicans alike, to three Presidents at Castleton University, she would go "politicking" when the spirit moved her. Whether holding court at the local diner or attending a select board meeting Beverly had something to say.
About Kimberly Leddy
Kimberly Leddy studied dance in Columbus before becoming a reporter for Columbus Alive, a weekly entertainment magazine, then editor of 614, a food and entertainment magazine. She now works as director Mosaic program which offers an alternative, humanities-based learning experience for high school juniors and seniors in central Ohio.
Kimberly, Sandra’s daughter, follows in her mom and grandmother’s footsteps in her endeavor to express herself. At first, she was a dancer with an on-stage presence, then as an award-winning arts and culture journalist and lastly, an educator. While all three roles may seem disparate on the surface, each focuses on communication and story. As lead facilitator and director of a high school experimental program, Kim scaffolds young people to find their voice. Her focus being that each will graduate with more self-confidence, mindfulness, and a desire to work towards a better world.