The Charles Williams Scholarships

The Charles Williams Scholarships for Excellence in Music and Visual Arts are awarded on an annual basis by the Trustees of The Concord Free Public Library Corporation.  Each year, The Williams Committee will select one Williams Scholar for Excellence in Music, and one Williams Scholar for Excellence in the Visual Arts.  The amount of each annual scholarship for Music and for Visual Arts will range from $3,000 to $5,000.  In addition, one or more students may receive  Honorable Mention designation.  Students receiving an Honorable Mention designation will receive a scholarship award in an amount to be determined by the Trustees with input from The Scholarship Committee.

Williams Scholars and Honorable Mention winners are selected in the sole discretion of the Trustees in consultation with The Williams Committee, a committee of specialists in music and the visual arts who have been appointed by the Trustees to direct the selection process and to advise with regard to the management of the scholarship program.  Short biographies of Williams Committee members have been provided on this site.  

All Scholarship awards are non-renewable and will be paid directly by the Concord Free Public Library Corporation to the educational institution where the selected student will matriculate.

A Trusts and Estates attorney by training, Cristina Coletta Blau has been a Trustee of The Concord Free Public Library since 2016, and also served as a member of The Concord Library Committee from 2008 – 2012. Cristina is the Trustee Chair of The Charles Williams Scholarship Committee. A graduate of Harvard College and Georgetown University Law School, Cristina holds an L.L.M. in Taxation from Boston University and practiced for several years at two downtown Boston law firms. Cristina is a longtime member of the Board of Directors of the Harvard Alumni Association and is extremely active in university affairs. 

Cristina’s love of the arts began as an undergraduate when she served as the Arts Editor of The Harvard Crimson, the college’s daily newspaper. She continues to advise on media projects and has served as a creative consultant for documentary film. Cristina is a lifelong champion of classical music and a three decade-long attendee of Thursday evening Boston Symphony Orchestra subscription concerts.  She is also the parent of a student musician (trombone) and has been an active member of the parent support communities at The Fenn School and Concord-Carlisle High School. 

Kate James has an undergraduate degree in Art History and a masters in Social Work. Kate loves her job working as the Executive Director at Concord Art.  Kate’s  first job out of college was at the Frumkin Gallery, a contemporary realist art gallery in New York.  From there, she directed several different galleries in New York and Boston.  Kate currently serve on the Board of Directors, Curatorial Committee and Education and Programming Committee at deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum. Kate lives in Concord with her husband, Ben James, and her two sons, Will and Ted.

Wendy Putnam, Founder and Director of the Concord Chamber Music Society, has been a violinist in the Boston Symphony Orchestra since 1997. She has collaborated and concertized with many of the world's most renowned musicians, as well as with her BSO colleagues. Distinguished artists have not only recognized Ms. Putnam's ability as a highly accomplished violinist, but also commended her devotion to the arts and humanity. 

Wendy was born in Wisconsin and began her study of the violin there at the age of three.  She made her first appearance in the concert hall at the age of nine when she was invited to perform as soloist with the Green Bay Symphony. By age sixteen she enrolled at Louisiana State University under the guidance of Professor Sally O' Reilly, where she completed both her Bachelor and Master of Music degrees. In 1991 while completing her Master of Music degree with Josef Gingold at Indiana University, Ms. Putnam was appointed Concertmaster of the New Orleans Symphony. Ms. Putnam has been the recipient of awards from numerous organizations, including the National Federation of Music Clubs and the Henry B. Cabot Foundation at Tanglewood.

Jerry Wedge has been the Executive Director of The Umbrella Arts Center since January of 2012.  Over the past twelve years, he has overseen the growth of the organization into a regional arts center. The completion of a $25,000,000 renovation and expansion allowed for state-of-the-art studio and support space for over 50 artists, the transition to a professional theater company in a 350-seat main stage theater and a 100-seat black box theater, and a sought-after education program, including a renowned ceramics program and a sought-after summer camp and vacation week program for kids.

Prior to joining The Umbrella, Jerry had a long and fulfilling career as an architect. He received a degree in Architecture from Syracuse University in the early 80’s, and practiced until 2012, working on projects primarily for public and non profit institutions. After starting his own practice in 1999, he began a second career in volunteering where he served thre terms on the Concord Public School Committee and Concord-Carlisle Regional School Committee, and before that, ten years on the Concord Children’s Center Board. It was these experiences where he developed a love for the mission driven organization. 

Jerry has spent the past 40 years integrating principles of creativity and practicality; understanding that successful projects need vision to entice engagement and pragmatism to make them real.