The Arts & Cultural Council of Decatur County announced Tuesday the recipients of its Renaissance Scholarships for 2008.

The three young ladies receiving the scholarship represent the county’s three high schools.

Cassandra Brindley, daughter of Roy and Joyce Brindley, is a senior at South Decatur High School. Brindley is a visual artist who has received many awards for her work. She plans to attend IUPUI/Herron School of Art and Design in the fall. She said she has wanted to be an artist since she was a small child.

“Other people would say they wanted to be a veterinarian or policeman, but I always said I wanted to be an artist,” she said.

Her specialty is photography, which she produces largely on her own time. Still, she feels the photos benefit from her study of other mediums in school. Although she isn’t sure where the future will take her, she dreams of traveling the world and taking pictures for National Geographic.

Karen Herbert, daughter of Joseph and Melinda Herbert, is a senior at Greensburg Community High School. Herbert works mainly in 3-D, doing a lot of ceramics and sculpture work. She plans to attend IUPUI.

Herbert’s love of art began in grade school, she said. She is currently taking AP Studio 3-D Art, which will require her to send a portfolio to a grading committee to assess whether or not she will be given college credit. Although she intends to study Biomedical Engineering, art remains important to her as a way to express her feelings.

Susan Lutterbach, a senior at North Decatur, is the daughter of Kevin and Angie Gay and Jim Lutterbach. Lutterbach plays the flute and plans to attend the University of Indianapolis, where she intends to pursue a degree in music performance. She hopes to someday play professionally in a symphony.

She started playing flute in fifth grade but said that music has always been in her life. She loves playing music and claims Ludwig Von Beethoven as her hero. Lutterbach knows a performance degree will take a lot of work, but said “music is worth it.”

The Renaissance Scholarships recognize achievement in the arts by local high school seniors, the ACCDC press release noted. This program is just one of the many ways that the ACCDC works to help foster creativity and self-expression through the arts in Decatur County.

To be considered for these $500 awards, applicants completed an application form and submitted a portfolio sample, the ACCDC press release said. They also were required to submit a recommendation from an arts teacher, an artist’s statement and career goal summary.