Gerrard Fine Arts Scholarship created
Glen Gerrard of Oglesby has created Illinois Valley Community College Foundation scholarships for students who display exceptional talent in art and theatre.
An artist, actor and set designer, Gerrard appeared in and worked behind the scenes for IVCC theatre productions in the late 1960s. Long before there was a theatre, he learned set design through on the job training and building scale models.
In April 1970, just a month before his IVCC graduation, he was drafted and was unable to graduate. While in the service, he worked in the 5th Army Headquarters where he also performed in Cactus Flower for Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri Special Services.
Upon his return to the Illinois Valley, Gerrard was a comprehensive art major at Illinois State University, and received his bachelor’s degree in 1974. He has remained committed to artwork and his paintings and pastel drawings have won several awards.
“Being at IVCC was one of the most pivotal times of my life,” he says. “I didn’t do well when the college was still housed at LP, but being at the new temporary campus made all the difference.”
Also contributing to The Gerrard Fine Arts Scholarship fund will be his sister Bonnie Kolowski, a retired teacher and principal in Omaha. Bonnie attended IVCC from 1963 to 1965 and is grateful to then LPO Junior College for providing the foundation for her career in education.
“We both feel the groundwork we built at IVCC was among the best things that happened to us,” said Gerrard, “and we wanted to do something lasting here in our family name.”
The Gerrard Fine Arts Scholarship fund will honor their parents Charles and Cora Gerrard on behalf of their brothers and sisters. Charles quit school at age 11 to help support his family by driving a delivery wagon for the Jonesville Mine Company Store. He would later work 47 years at Westclox.
Cora left LP High School after her sophomore year to help support her family by working at Bent's Department Store in downtown Oglesby.
Glen was the youngest of eight Gerrard children and became interested in art at a very early age.
“Our parents were very creative. They encouraged all of us to learn all we can and to never stop learning.”
Today Gerrard still designs sets, now in 3D on the computer. He is a member of the Stage 212 board and is currently creating the 212 digital Visual Archives. He is the author of the popular Facebook page “Oglesby Days,” and for the past six years has volunteered as a docent at Westclox Museum where many of his father’s woodcarvings and his mother's needlework are displayed.
Gerrard’s life in theatre includes playing Ebenezer Scrooge in A Christmas Carol touring across six states and appearing in three separate productions of I Do! I Do! He was a foster parent for 10 years and formerly worked for La Salle County Detention Home and Youth Service Bureau.
In 2018, he won the “Spirit of the Theatre Award” from River Valley Players in Henry for his timeless commitment to the craft. In 2019, he was honored with the Omni Arts Lifetime Achievement Award for his contribution to the arts in Illinois.
His voluminous artwork, acting and set design resume includes Sound of Music, Inherit the Wind, Detective Story, Cabaret, Something’s Afoot, West Side Story, Grease, A Chorus Line, On Golden Pond, Man of La Mancha, and many others.
“There is so much exceptional talent in the halls of IVCC struggling to get through, and they could use a hand up. I am hoping this will encourage them to be creative thinkers who can excel in whatever art form they choose,” Gerrard said.
Creating the scholarship accomplishes another of Gerrard’s long-held dreams.
“I have been hoping to do this for years,” he said. “I’ve been a very fortunate man and I just want pay it forward while I'm still around to enjoy it.”