In 1988, at the first Letterforum Conference, Professor Hermann Zapf endowed a scholarship fund, the Hermann Zapf Education Fund (HZEF), for the Washington Calligraphers Guild. Through the continuing generosity and friendship of Professor Zapf and his wife, Gudrun Zapf von Hesse, the Fund has so far directly benefited more than a dozen Guild members with major scholarships or smaller amounts for class studies.

This year the scholarship went to Delphine Vasquez, CHM, a Sister of the Humility of Mary, Davenport, Iowa, who is currently working at Holy Trinity School and Annunciation School, both in Washington. She has always been interested in calligraphy and began teaching herself when she was a Peace Corps volunteer in Congo (Zaire). Her formal studies include work with Glen Epstein at the University of Iowa, Ann Pope in Washington, and John Schmits at St. Ambrose University in Davenport. She has taught basic calligraphy to middle grade children, as well as to junior high students in the Saturday School program at Georgetown Visitation School. Delphine will use the scholarship to continue studies with Ann Pope, and hopes to teach calligraphy in the future to all age levels.

In 1999 the Fund was used to introduce children to calligraphy. Susan Easton taught the first Guild-sponsored calligraphy class for children on June 21-25 at Carole Highlands Elementary School in Takoma Park, MD. The class introduced young artists who have completed 5th or 6th grade to the principles of calligraphy as they learned to write the Foundational hand. They completed a series of exercises and projects to learn the structure and character of Foundational letters, and used a variety of broad-nib pens and calligraphy paper to become acquainted with materials used by calligraphers. The class compiled a collection of favorite words, poetry, quotations and alphabet sentences to inspire their creation of beautiful and expressive letters.

Past Zapf scholarship winners have included Rose Folsom, who used the grant to create over 20 hand-made artists books, some of which are now part of permanent collections in prestigious national libraries. Recipient Rebecca Lepkowski attended the 1995 Letterforum Conference and Marie Lenker used her 1996 scholarship for classes with Sheila Waters. In 1997 Lee Ann Novak and Stephen Rapp shared the scholarship to study with Michael Clark. Theresa Daly used the 1998 scholarship to attend the international conference, Discoveries, in San Diego, and 1999's winner, Davette Leonard Kvarnes, is using the funds to study with Sheila Waters.

These scholarships are designed to assist promising students of calligraphy and its related arts with ongoing expenses for classes, books, workshops, conference, and private studies. Professor Zapf is keenly aware of financial restrictions encountered among younger calligraphy enthusiasts, and the Guild is deeply grateful for this generous chance for Guild members.

Announcements, deadlines and eligibility criteria are printed in the WCG Bulletin, or interested WCG members may write to the Washington Calligraphers Guild, P.O. Box 3688, Merrifield, VA 22116, or leave a message on the Guild's phone machine at 301-897-8637.

Hermineh Miller (pictured) and Jordenne Ferrington gave a free workshop on the Foundational hand at the Capital Children's Museum in 1999 in Washington, DC.