About Rhoda
Beginning as a child growing up in Scarsdale, N.Y., Rhoda always showed a love and ability for art. In learning to create art, to draw, to paint, to illustrate, Rhoda expressed herself and her appreciation of nature. After high school, she earned a BFA from the Tyler School of Art at Temple University. Later, already a talented abstract artist, she earned a certificate in Botanical Illustration from the New York Botanical Gardens where she went on to teach botanical illustration. Over the years, she had several solo exhibitions of her work, including exhibits of her botanical watercolors at the Greenwich Audubon Society and at the Rockefeller State Park Preserve.
Rhoda and her husband, Stuart, moved to Briarcliff Manor in 1975 and raised their three children there, all of whom graduated from Briarcliff High School. In the fall of 2015, Rhoda led a workshop for the Briarcliff High School AP Art students. She loved teaching art and sharing the creative experience, and especially enjoyed her time with the AP art class. It reminded her of her own time as a young art student learning to express herself through a creative medium.
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About the Fund
The Rhoda Holzer Memorial Fine Arts Fund was established in 2016 to award an annual scholarship in Rhoda’s memor to a graduating fine arts student from Briarcliff High School. At that time, we had expressed the hope that we might be able to support fine arts programs for other young artists, and so, together with generous contributors Jill & Jay Bernstein, our family made a gift to the Tyler School of Art (at Temple University in Philadelphia, PA) to endow the Rhoda Psaty Holzer Memorial Painting Scholarship. This Painting Scholarship (which is entirely separate from the Fine Arts Scholarship at Briarcliff High School), makes an annual award to a deserving undergraduate Painting Major at the Tyler School. Furthermore, one of the beautiful new painting studio classrooms at Tyler was dedicated as the “Rhoda Psaty Holzer Painting Studio” on April 20, 2017, and a dedication plaque was installed at the Studio entrance.
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Temple Today covered the dedication in a wonderful story that they posted on their website. We invite you to read the article and view a video of the dedication ceremony (video password: tyler).
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We know that Rhoda would be honored - and, probably, a bit embarrassed - to learn that she is being remembered so significantly both in the community where she lived for over 40 years, and at the art school where she was free to study, to create, to paint, and to express herself in her artwork. We are so grateful for the generous contributions that have been made in Rhoda's memory, and for the loving remembrances of her.
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Grant Awards
In April 2024, we proudly named the 2023-2024 winners of the Rhoda Holzer Memorial Arts scholarship during the Briarcliff High School Art Salon, held at Sleepy Hollow Country Club. This was the second year we were invited to present the newest scholarship winners as part of the evening's program. We were thrilled to be there! Congratulations again to Allison Chu, First Prize winner of a $4,500 scholarship and Sora Marable, Second Place winner of a $3,500 scholarship. Both of their portfolios demonstrated the talent and creativity that Rhoda so loved to encourage in young artists. (To learn more about the 2023 Art Salon, the first Salon post-Covid, we invite you to watch this short news story by News 12 Westchester.)
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In addition to the Fine Arts Scholarships at BHS, each year the Rhoda Holzer Memorial Painting Scholarship is awarded to a Painting Major at Rhoda's alma mater, the Tyler School of Art at Temple University in Philadelphia. The 2024-2025 school year’s Painting Scholarship was awarded to Jesse Ramos, a senior Painting Major. In a letter addressed to our family, Jess shared, “My work has gone through many changes technically and conceptually, but can be identified... as paintings that elaborate on my beliefs and display my inner monologue." We are so pleased to be able to support Jesse as he completes his BFA this spring.
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Congratulations to all of the 2024 awardees!
Past Award Winners
2023
Briarcliff High School: Kate Kaplan (First Place), Annika Bruinings & Violet Young (Second Place), and Coby Rinke (Third Place)
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Tyler School of Art at Temple University: Genevieve Livesay
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2022
Briarcliff High School: Benjamin Young (First Place), Sarah Renz (Second Place), & Oliver Canales Greenwood (Third Place)
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Tyler School of Art at Temple University: Gannon Blair
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2021
Briarcliff High School: Mathena Chan (First Place), Sara Sam-Zee-Moi (Second Place), Finn Torres (Third Place) & Angela Cao (Third Place)
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Tyler School of Art at Temple University: Maylee Wolf
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2020
Briarcliff High School: Jessica Scott (First Place), Maggie Lin (Second Place)
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Tyler School of Art at Temple University: Oliver Papadopoulos
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2019
Briarcliff High School: Haochen "Daniel" Deng (First Place), Sarah Albert (Second Place), Harsha Philip (Second Place), Regine Navarro (Second Place)
Tyler School of Art at Temple University: Jacob Stevens
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2018
Briarcliff High School: Farhaanah Mohideen (First Prize), Emma Calame-Pennington & Hannah Siesel (Second Place), Leila Miller (Honorable Mention)
Tyler School of Art at Temple University: Alezendria Decking
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2017
Briarcliff High School: Devon Litchfield (Grand Prize), Olivia Fullerton (Honorable Mention), Edison Ho (Honorable Mention)
Tyler School of Art at Temple University: Kevin Rose
Contact Us
For more information about the fund, please contact us at bdkienle@gmail.com
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The Rhoda Holzer Memorial Fine Arts Fund is a donor advised fund administered by the
Westchester Community Foundation, a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) public charity.
