TINNEY FAMILY ARTS SCHOLARSHIP 2024
The Arts & Cultural Alliance of Newport County is pleased to offer the Tinney Family Arts Scholarship in the amount of $2,000 each year, in memory of the Tinney Family. Rich with love, talent, and ambition, the Tinneys used limited monetary wealth to create beauty for all to enjoy. The family is best known for saving Belcourt Castle from demolition in the mid-20th century, restoring and maintaining the building, and exhibiting an impressive collection of antiques. The Gold Coronation Coach designed by Donald Tinney in 1966 was featured in the historic Bristol, Rhode Island, Fourth of July Parade in 2019 and the Fall River, Massachusetts, Children’s Christmas Parade in 2021.
Donald Tinney can best be described as a “Renaissance” man. From the age of twelve, he sang in a boys’ choir, studied music, and played the piano and pipe organ. Before he was twenty, he had transformed a colonial farm into a stunning estate with beautiful landscaping and stone paths. All of the Tinneys were accomplished artists and artisans, and dedicated to hard work. They bought the oldest stained glass studio in Rhode Island to preserve the art. Creating and restoring windows, the family inspired students to learn many skills. They taught “lost arts” such as woodcarving, gold leafing, and wrought iron work to many aspiring artists.
This is the eighth annual scholarship that will be awarded to a graduating high school senior who lives in Newport County, has demonstrated artistic talent, and has the ambition to strive for excellence. All areas of the Arts will be considered. In giving this scholarship, the Tinney family’s hopes that the awardee will cherish and perpetuate the Tinney legacy while making the most of his/her own inherent artistic abilities.
TINNEY FAMILY ARTS SCHOLARSHIP past recipients
