“Works on Paper,” an exhibition by local artists John and Ulli Rooney, is on display through June 15 at The Art Box in DeKalb.

COUNTY

Scholarships available for low-income students

Low-income DeKalb County residents can get financial assistance for college through the 2017-2018 Community Services Block Grant Scholarship (CSBG).

The basic qualifications to be eligible for a CSBG Scholarship are:

• Be a permanent resident of DeKalb County,

• Be a member of a household whose gross income does not exceed 125% of the poverty level,

• Be accepted at an accredited Illinois two- or four-year institution for an undergraduate degree and

• If receiving/anticipating other scholarships and/or financial aid, they must not cover the entire cost of tuition, books, fees, and room and board.

This is a competitive scholarship. Not all applicants who are eligible will be chosen as a recipient. The completed application form and mailed letters of recommendation from references must be received by 4:30 p.m. June 23 at the DeKalb County Community Action Department, 2550 N. Annie Glidden Road, DeKalb, 60115. Call (815) 758‐3910 or visit dekalbcountycommunityaction.org for more information.

Counting tallies number, species of birds here

About 125 species and about 5,800 birds were counted in DeKalb County this month during the annual statewide Spring Bird Count. The SBC is held the Saturday that falls between May 4 and 10, which this year was May 6. The censuses are conducted in all 102 counties in Illinois, producing a snapshot of the birds’ migration pattern.

Since the SBC began in 1972, there has been an average 116 species spotted each year in DeKalb County.

The numbers are a little low this year because of consistent northern winds, a rainstorm in central Illinois overnight and cooler than normal temperatures in early May. Other counties in northern Illinois had similar results to DeKalb County’s, but central and southern Illinois saw more bird species because of warmer temperatures.

The SBC results are published in The Meadowlark, a journal of the Illinois Ornithological Society. The information also is added to the Illinois Natural History Survey’s database. The information can be used to estimate changes in populations of species of birds throughout the state.

Youth decide annual funding

The Youth Engaged in Philanthropy (YEP) capped this year’s work with its annual awards of grants. This month, YEP awarded $11,588 in grants to six youth-serving community organizations in DeKalb County.

As an initiative of the DeKalb County Community Foundation, YEP exists to familiarize high school youth throughout the county with local nonprofits and grant-making. Through youth-led meetings and outreach events, members build leadership skills and learn about the need for philanthropy in the community. The program ends with the members’ responsibility to allocate funds. Once recommendations are made, the youth’s decisions are presented to the DeKalb County Community Foundation Board of Directors for final approval.

YEP grants awarded for the spring 2017 grant cycle include:

• DeKalb County Community Gardens – $2,500 to purchase adaptive tools and equipment to empower youth with special needs

• Hope Haven – $2,500 to form and support trauma therapy groups for children and teens staying in the shelter

• Indian Valley Vocational Center – $2,500 to start a farmers market using fresh produce from the garden and student produced products

• Kishwaukee Special Recreation Association – $2,100 to support the Camp Maple Leaf Junior Counselor Program

• Northern Illinois Food Bank – $553 to support a Mobile Food Pantry in partnership with the DeKalb County Youth Service Bureau, and

• Sycamore Public Library – $1,435 to purchase and install a water bottle filler near the children’s section.

For information about YEP, contact Executive Director Dan Templin at (815) 748-5383 or dan@dekalbccf.org.

DeKALB

Local artists’ works are on display

“Works on Paper,” an exhibition by local artists John Rooney and Ulli Rooney, is on display through June 15 at The Art Box, 308 E. Lincoln Hwy., DeKalb.

Professor emeritus from Northern Illinois University School of Art and Design, John Rooney taught painting and drawing from 1968 to 1996. He began his studies in art in 1952 with Hyman Bloom at Harvard where he received a bachelor’s degree in English in 1953. Continuing his studies in Germany, he earned his final diploma in 1962 while working with muralist Franz Nagel at the Akademie der Bildenden Kunste in Munich, Germany. At Syracuse University, Rooney studied with Merlin Pollock, Adja Yunkers and Laurence Schmeckebier while earning his master of fine arts degree in 1967. His professional ties to Europe include a gallery affiliation with the Walter Bischoff Galerie, Stuttgart, Germany, including several group exhibitions and two studio residencies in Stuttgart, and a solo show in Munich.

Originally from Riga, Latvia, Ulli Rooney earned her fine art degree in 1961 at the Akademie der Bildenden Kunste in Munich. She was awarded two Illinois Arts Council Artist Fellowships, a studio residency in Stuttgart and an Academic Exchange Service Fellowship to Paris.

For more information on the exhibition, call Daniel Grych at (815) 758-0313. Gallery hours are 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. except Sundays and Wednesdays when it is closed.