Chaz Collins College Fund
Donation protected
“This campaign is about recognizing excellence and helping to build a bridge of opportunity for a talented and dedicated young artist named Chaz (Daviscz)Collins. In this unprecedented time of precarious social, economic, and political challenges exacerbated by a global pandemic, it is all the more important to help support the dreams and goals of the next generation. We hope you will consider building that bridge with us.” -- David Sepulveda (Chaz’s middle school art teacher)
MY STORY:
I was enamored with cartoons and animation from a very young age. Growing up, I watched and fell in love with classic cartoons from as far back as the 60’s and 70’s; “Looney Toons”, “Popeye the Sailor”, and “Fat Albert” to name a few. I would attempt to draw them as I sat watching TV. Throughout grade school, I began to develop a phenomenal hand for cartooning and animation starting with little handmade flipbooks. To quote my middle school art teacher, David Sepulveda, “Chaz’s impressive ability to imbue and animate his characters with the full range of human emotion and wonder represents artistic insight well beyond his age".
As a sophomore in high school, I was chosen out of 400 applicants to participate in the Arts and Crafts on Bedford Fair in Stamford, Connecticut. Then during my junior year, I was the only student invited by the University of Connecticut to participate in a Black History Month art show featuring legendary cartoonists, such as Mort Walker (creator of “Beetle Bailey”) and Ray Billingsley (creator of “Curtis”). I have also created two original webcomic series on webtoon.com called "Lil' Denny”, based on my dad and his childhood friends, and "Like Brother, Like Father”, a comic homage to the many family sitcoms of the 1980s.
I have always dreamed of attending the Rhode Island School of Design and was accepted into their Film, Animation, & Video Studies program this year. To ease the financial burden on my parents, immediately after high school graduation I attended my local community college where I took most of my prerequisite courses. Then I applied to my dream school. I was ecstatic upon finding out that I had been accepted into RISD. However, due to the effect the pandemic has had on the economy, the amount of financial aid and scholarship money had to be distributed amongst many more students whose families’ finances were affected negatively. Therefore, the amount I thought I was going to receive ended up being much lower…understandable.
My family is one of the many across the country that has been harshly impacted by the pandemic financially speaking. Because of this, I’m in danger of losing the opportunity I’ve been granted to realize my dream as an animator. I received some financial aid and scholarship money, but there’s still an existing balance of $30,000 that I need to come up with in order to cover my school fees for the upcoming academic year. My parents are doing all they can to help, and I’m asking people who have seen my work over the years and those who love and enjoy the arts to invest in my future. From the bottom of my heart, I sincerely thank you for taking the time to read this and for considering donating to my cause.
MY STORY:
I was enamored with cartoons and animation from a very young age. Growing up, I watched and fell in love with classic cartoons from as far back as the 60’s and 70’s; “Looney Toons”, “Popeye the Sailor”, and “Fat Albert” to name a few. I would attempt to draw them as I sat watching TV. Throughout grade school, I began to develop a phenomenal hand for cartooning and animation starting with little handmade flipbooks. To quote my middle school art teacher, David Sepulveda, “Chaz’s impressive ability to imbue and animate his characters with the full range of human emotion and wonder represents artistic insight well beyond his age".
As a sophomore in high school, I was chosen out of 400 applicants to participate in the Arts and Crafts on Bedford Fair in Stamford, Connecticut. Then during my junior year, I was the only student invited by the University of Connecticut to participate in a Black History Month art show featuring legendary cartoonists, such as Mort Walker (creator of “Beetle Bailey”) and Ray Billingsley (creator of “Curtis”). I have also created two original webcomic series on webtoon.com called "Lil' Denny”, based on my dad and his childhood friends, and "Like Brother, Like Father”, a comic homage to the many family sitcoms of the 1980s.
I have always dreamed of attending the Rhode Island School of Design and was accepted into their Film, Animation, & Video Studies program this year. To ease the financial burden on my parents, immediately after high school graduation I attended my local community college where I took most of my prerequisite courses. Then I applied to my dream school. I was ecstatic upon finding out that I had been accepted into RISD. However, due to the effect the pandemic has had on the economy, the amount of financial aid and scholarship money had to be distributed amongst many more students whose families’ finances were affected negatively. Therefore, the amount I thought I was going to receive ended up being much lower…understandable.
My family is one of the many across the country that has been harshly impacted by the pandemic financially speaking. Because of this, I’m in danger of losing the opportunity I’ve been granted to realize my dream as an animator. I received some financial aid and scholarship money, but there’s still an existing balance of $30,000 that I need to come up with in order to cover my school fees for the upcoming academic year. My parents are doing all they can to help, and I’m asking people who have seen my work over the years and those who love and enjoy the arts to invest in my future. From the bottom of my heart, I sincerely thank you for taking the time to read this and for considering donating to my cause.
Organizer and beneficiary
Chaz Collins
Organizer
Stamford, CT
Chaz Collins
Beneficiary
