COMMUNITY FOUNDATION
Building a Stronger Panhandle, Together
For nearly 50 years, the Oregon Trail Community Foundation has connected generous donors with real community needs. From scholarships and healthcare to the arts, history, environment, and recreation, we’re dedicated to enriching lives across the Panhandle. Every gift is carefully stewarded to create lasting impact—today, tomorrow, and for generations to come.
SERVES PROMOTES RESPONDS
Photo by Rick Myers
Fliesbach McAlister Scholarship
For high school seniors or junior college students planning to study art at a higher college in the near future. The applicant must be a resident of western Nebraska or Eastern Wyoming. The scholarship may be used at any junior college, four year college, university or trade school with an accredited art department.
The scholarship application is available at the West Nebraska Arts Center.
Recipients are selected by the West Nebraska Arts Center.
The Barbara Fliesbach McAlister scholarship is to be used only by high school seniors or junior college students planning to study art at a higher college in the near future. The applicant must be a resident of western Nebraska or eastern Wyoming. The scholarship may be used at any junior college, four-year college, university, or trade school with an accredited art department. Scholarship winners from previous years are not eligible to re-apply.
amount
The 2026 Barbara Fliesbach McAlister scholarship is a total amount of one thousand dollars ($1000.00). The scholarship will be paid to the recipient upon proof of registration in any college accredited art course that is taken for credit. This proof must be sent within three (3) semesters of award notification date to receive the payment of the scholarship. Failure to do so is automatic termination of the organization’s responsibility.
Requirements
Your application package must contain the following:
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completed application form
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5 examples of your recent artwork (recent examples of artwork may include any original or class-assigned artwork) Images may be submitted in one of the following ways: printed images or photographs (please no larger than 8.5x11”) a thumb drive with jpeg images (preferred) a CD with jpeg images
Please include a reference page with information about each image including the following: title of artwork, medium, year completed, if it was a class assignment or your own inspiration, and any other information you feel would be important for the review committee to know about your artwork.
Please mail or hand-deliver completed entry form and images to:
West Nebraska Arts Center
Barbara Fliesbach McAlister SCHOLARSHIP
106 East 18th Street
Scottsbluff, NE 69361
Please include return postage and envelope, if you would like your materials returned, otherwise all materials become property of WNAC. Scholarship finalists may be contacted for an interview.
Please direct questions to Steph Coley, WNAC Program Manager, at 308-632-2226 or email steph@thewnac.com.
We request that the recipient of the award send a letter of thanks, including what you intend to study and examples of your artwork to: gfliesbach@san.rr.com OR
Gail Fliesbach, President
G.A. Fliesbach Foundation
3952 D Clairemont Mesa Bldv. #154
San Diego, CA 92117
about Barbara Fliesbach McAlister
Barbara Fliesbach McAlister was born in Nevada in 1918. She grew up in Scottsbluff, NE being
Scholarship Recipients
2016 Tristan Stephenson ($1,000)
2017 Sara Gingerich -Potter ($1,000)
2018 Sara Gingerich -Potter ($1,000)
2019 Benjamin Nollette - Alliance ($1,000)
2020 Sydney Willey - Gering ($1,000)
2021 Paige Schneider ($1,000)
2022 Sarah Connot ($1,000)
2023 Lily Krahulic - Mitchell ($1,000)
2024 Kaylee Barnett - ($1,000)
2025 Ava Osborn - ($1,000)
Barbara Jane Smith Fliesbach McAlister
January 30, 2015 - (Obituary - Claremont Courier, Friday, Jan. 30, 2015)
Loving wife and mother, gifted artist
Barbara McAlister, a longtime Claremont resident, died on Sunday, January 18, 2015. She was 96.
Mrs. McAlister was born on July 27, 1918, the daughter of Ralph Waldo and Amelia Roxanne Fliesbach Smith, in Potorie, Nevada, a mining camp 50 miles north of Las Vegas.
Following the early death of her mother, young Barbara was adopted by an uncle and aunt, Harry S. and Grace Weybright Fliesbach, and grew up in Scottsbluff, Nebraska. The family moved to southern California in the early 1930s. She graduated from Wilson High School in Long Beach.
Moving to South Pasadena, she attended Pasadena City College, majoring in art. She also studied ballet and performed in several productions. Barbara and Robert McAlister were married in 1941. Following World War II, they moved to Pomona and were involved in her parents’ Don Rancho Co., which was located in Ontario and manufactured men’s sportswear. They moved to Claremont in 1969. In the 1950s through the 1970s, they started manufacturing Hang Ten sportswear, which became very popular nationally.
After retirement, they enjoyed traveling and cruises, and were especially interested in the Southwest and American Indian country. They sponsored a fifth-grade Hopi girl through high school graduation and beyond through “Futures for Children.” Barbara and Bob celebrated their 50th anniversary in 1991, traveling to Paris, London and Scotland, where they visited the McAlister Castle.
Barbara was an artist and studied watercolors with Milford Zornes, and both couples, the McAlisters and the Zornes, became very good friends. She was a member of the PEO Sisterhood (Chapter PD, Claremont), Scripps Fine Arts Foundation and the Harvey Mudd College Galileo Club.
Mrs. McAlister was predeceased by her son, Scott McAlister, and husband, Robert Stevens McAlister. She is survived by her niece, Kathryn Wold Bean, and nephew, Richard Hampton Wold. She was buried in the family plot in Oak Park Cemetery in Claremont.