Florida Museum of Photographic Arts names first ‘Children’s Scholarship Program’ recipient

The Florida Museum of Photographic Arts (FMoPA) is pleased to announce the first recipient of its Children’s Scholarship Program.

In 2014, FMoPA partnered with the crowd-funding platform, Power2Give, asking donors to sponsor children taking photography classes at the museum.  Over a period of three months, individuals generously contributed to the campaign, allowing the museum to issue scholarships to children in need.

Madison Harrison, an eight-year old Hernando county resident and local photography business owner, will receive a scholarship to attend two of the new Children’s Photography Excursions, available in February and March.

With camera in hand, children are guided by FMoPA’s Kids’ Photography instructor, Kim Hicks, through settings such as the Florida Aquarium and the Lowry Park Zoo, to experiment with composition and content, surrounded by endless and fun photo opportunities.

Madison’s passion for photography began with a desire to commemorate her dolls. She first started taking pictures of herself and her friends with their favorite toys using the camera on her mother’s cell phone. This simple idea led to an ever growing business –Photos with Madison. Now, Madison shoots with more professional equipment and her work goes beyond her group of friends to include bridal shoots.

Empowered by her vision and supported by the community, she represents the passionate and self-propelled individuals that the museum’s executive director, Zora Carrier, says deserve a chance.

“These are the people we need to help, because these are the people that will be running museums in the coming years,” says Carrier. “We need to be able to cultivate that passion,”  said Carrier.

FMoPA also offers photography classes for all levels of expertise; from Photography 101 to Photoshop. FMoPA is a museum dedicated to exhibiting important photographic art as central to contemporary life and culture.  FMoPA collects, preserves, and exhibits historic and contemporary works by nationally and internationally known photographic artists.  FMoPA also enriches the community by operating outreach programs to educate children and adults.