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Sherando Warrior Club Will Sell Prints to Raise Money for Scholarship Fund

By Linda McCarty
Edition Staff Writer

	John Nelson, principal of Sherando High School, and Sharon Collette, co-president of the Sherando Warrior Club, hold prints of a painting by Mort Künstler, an artist known for his Civil War scenes. Künstler gave the school exclusive rights to create 400 prints from this painting for a fund-raiser. The prints are selling for $100 each. (Photo by Ginger Perry)

The generosity of an artist known for his paintings that depict scenes from the Civil War will help the Sherando Warrior Club’s coffer reach a pinnacle this school year.

Mort Künstler has given Sherando High School’s athletic booster club exclusive rights to “Chief High Horse,” a painting he did following a trip to the Rosebud Sioux Reservation in South Dakota during the summer of 1984.

“It has never been put into print before,” said Sharon Collette, who is co-president of the booster club with her husband, Joe. “We are selling 400 limited edition prints for $100 each. We should make approximately $20,000.”

Künstler will sign the prints during a visit to the school from 6 to 8 p.m. on Dec. 3.

“He will also be selling copies of his new book, ‘The Civil War Art of Mort Künstler,’” Sharon Collette said.

Künstler offered to donate the original print to the Sherando Warrior Club after receiving a letter from Collette asking him if he would allow the club to sell a piece of his art to support its scholarship fund.

“I wrote the letter on a whim and was shocked and humbled when Mr. Künstler accepted my offer,” Collette said, “but then on the other hand, he is very charitable.”

Künstler, whose works are prominently displayed in businesses and homes throughout the Winchester area, as well as nationally and internationally, said from his home in Oyster Bay, N.Y., that he has a “very close affection and feel for Winchester.

“I try to help out any worthwhile organization in Winchester and this is another worthy cause. I was just delighted to do it.”

Although Künstler now focuses mainly on the Civil War, he has painted portraits of prehistoric American life. In 1992, the United States Postal Service commissioned Künstler to do a painting of the Buffalo Soldiers for a stamp that was issued in April 1994.

Sherando Principal John Nelson already has pre-paid for three prints.

“The Sherando Warrior Club works very hard, and it’s wonderful that Mort Künstler is going to help,” Nelson said. “His donation will make a significant difference, because the money will be turned back to the school for things like scholarships, uniforms, equipment, and facility improvements.”

Collette said, “The motto at Sherando High School is that one person can make a difference, and as Mr. Künstler has made a difference in the Shenandoah Valley, he will also make a difference in the lives of the students at Sherando High School.”

The Sherando Warrior Club, a booster club for the school’s athletic association, started when the school opened in 1993.

“We provide about $30,000 in scholarships a year, and we give $16,000 a year to the athletic department for all athletes at all levels,” Collette said.

In addition to this school year’s big fund-raising event, the booster club sponsors annual golf and wrestling tournaments, sells souvenirs and ads for its sports’ programs, and operates concession stands at games.

Collette said the group is taking pre-paid orders and the prints, so far, have been going quickly.

“We’ve already sold about 100 prints,” she said. Prints can be purchased by sending a $100 check to Sherando Warrior Club, P.O. Box 115, Stephens City, VA 22655.

For more information, call Collette at (540) 662-6416.

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