Music is good medicine
Gwenyth Puddester named 2017 Statoil Artssmarts Scholarship winner
A rainy day phone call struck the perfect chord for a St. John’s teen recently.
Gwenyth Puddester was tolerating a rainy, cold day when her phone rang. Her mood went from gloom to glee in an instant when she learned she had been selected as the recipient of the 2017 Statoil Artssmarts Scholarship.
“I didn’t expect this at all,” Puddester said Thursday after she was presented with the prize by Paul Fulton, president of Statoil Canada, during the Artssmarts NL announcement held at St. Mary’s Elementary in St. John’s.
St. Mary’s is one of 30 schools selected for Artssmarts funding this year. Puddester, who suffers from Tourette’s syndrome and ADHD, is a first-year music student at Memorial University.
The scholarship, in the amount of $2,500, is awarded to a Newfoundland and Labrador high school student who is enrolled in first-year, full‐time art studies in a degree or diploma program at a recognized publicly funded Canadian university or college.
“Investing in youth to help them succeed is a priority for Statoil, which is why we are pleased to be supporting this program for a third year,” Fulton said.
“We believe that youth who
have talent and are dedicated to a dream should be supported because they are our heroes of tomorrow. They will give back to society and we will all see the benefits. We are happy to support Gwenyth to help her achieve her dreams in the arts. She’s worked hard to get here and we wish her great success in her studies in the future.”
Her own medicine Music has played a big role in Puddester’s life and literally has served in a medicinal way for her.
“With Tourette’s, I can take
the medication, but I don’t react well to it,” she said.
“I get tics because of my Tourette’s. When I play music, it takes all of my focus and they completely stop. It is the only known cure.”
Add ADHD to that, and she has her hands full.
“It takes a lot of energy to focus and when I play music. Music makes focusing effortless,” she said.
Puddester has received trombone instruction since 2014.
She has performed with the Newfoundland Symphony Youth
Orchestra, regularly completes at the Kiwanis Music Festival and performs in the Holy Heart orchestra pit.
In addition, Puddester founded a Self‐care Club at Holy Heart to provide safe and quiet spaces for students to meditate, do yoga and create art once a week. She started music at a young age, at two or three years old, and the Artssmarts program has helped to get her involved and interested in pursuing music.
She said Artssmarts is a valuable program, not just music, but art that is helpful to many others in addition to herself.
“I have met a lot of people through the program. The music has made me more well-rounded, dedicated and determined and I am able to accomplish a lot more,” she said.
“Music is a way to express how I am feeling. It is a universal language. I have played with people from other countries who don’t speak English, but we communicate through the music.”
Since its inception, the Artssmarts programs have awarded more than $2.24 million to 539 projects involving all artistic disciplines province-wide. The program has employed 1,285 artists who have worked with an estimated 85,000 students and 4,200 teachers.
“The students here are so lucky. To have people like Eastern Owl to come in and work with them is special,” she said.
“Newfoundland has a strong musical and artistic community, and by these students learning from Eastern owl and others, it keeps up with traditions and history,” she added.
Puddester said whether you use music or arts as a career or a hobby, it is and should be fulfilling.
“It makes you see life in a different light. They should stick with it no matter what and branch out. Who knows, they might find a hidden talent.”