NEW YORK, NY — March 17, 2011 — The Open Space Institute announced today the 2011 recipients of the Barnabas McHenry Hudson River Valley Awards, given annually to young leaders with the exceptional vision to help create the Hudson Valley of the future.
OSI established the McHenry Awards in 2007 to recognize the upcoming generation of Hudson Valley leaders. Since then, the organization has invested more than $60,000 in the future of the region.
Each spring, OSI awards $5,000 grants to four students (originally three, and expanded to four in 2010) who partner with regional nonprofits to complete projects in the fields of environmental conservation, historic preservation, the arts, and tourism, respectively. The awards are named for OSI Trustee Barney McHenry, a longtime Hudson Valley resident and champion of the region's cultural and scenic wealth.
The 2011 McHenry Award winners are:
Alexandra Church will work with the Newburgh Armory Unity Center in the field of historic preservation. Alexandra will complete a preliminary master plan for the 12-acre Newburgh Armory for the purpose of developing and implementing programs at the site. Alexandra will conduct research on the history of the Armory, its surrounding neighborhood, and the building itself. She is a graduate student at the University of Pennsylvania's School of Design and holds certifications from the International Economic Development Council, the Regional Plan Association, and the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy.
In the field of environmental conservation, Cornelia Harris will work with the Cary Institute, leading a program that trains students from Poughkeepsie City Schools to become stewards of the Hudson River ecosystem and docents for the newly installed Hudson River Environmental Conditions Observing System (HRECOS). Through a series of after-school workshops, participating students will learn about the river, explore the life within it and along its banks, and develop outreach materials for the public. Cornelia holds a Master's degree in teaching and is in her pursuit of a Master of Science degree focused on biodiversity and conservation biology.
Sara Kendall will work in the field of the arts with free103point9 Radio's "Hands-on Radio," a community-run media project that is re-envisioning radio as an innovative platform in New York's Greene and Columbia counties. The project will include the production of special exhibitions and events, media training for our community's youth and adults, a news blog, and a local calendar. Sara recently graduated with a BA in Latin American Studies from Pomona College. She also co-produced a documentary about the oil boom in North Dakota called Crude Independence which won the Oxford Film Festival Jury Prize in 2009.
In the tourism field, Derrick Mead will assist Glynwood with the launch of its "Hudson Valley Cider Route" project to showcase fresh and hard cider in the region. The project will include mapping of orchards, composing profiles of each orchard location, as well as collecting information about Hudson Valley apple and cider production and its various apple varieties. Derrick is an MFA student at the School of Visual Arts and is a fourth generation orchardist.
"OSI is proud to offer McHenry Awards to these exemplary Hudson Valley visionaries," said OSI CEO Kim Elliman. "Their initiative to showcase and better this remarkable region will benefit residents of the Hudson Valley for years to come."