New Kensington Native Honored for Academic Achievement at Penn State

November 30, 2007

Cara Livorio, daughter of Frank and Nancy Livorio of New Kensington, Pa., has been named the fall 2007 student marshal for the Penn State College of Arts and Architecture. The title of marshal is awarded to the student who has earned the highest overall grade-point average in the college. Livorio will earn a bachelor of fine arts in drawing and painting with a minor in Italian art history.

A Schreyer Honors College scholar, Livorio has studied abroad in Rome and attended the School of the Art Institute of Chicago on a Naomi Winston Scholarship of the National Society of Arts and Letters. She is a member of Savoir Faire, an all-female a cappella group at Penn State, and served on the Morale and Rules and Regulations committees for THON, Penn State’s dance marathon that supports the Four Diamonds Fund in the fight against pediatric cancer.

Livorio initiated a successful marketing project for THON using a portrait she painted of Joe Paterno. While the original painting belongs to Joe and Sue Paterno, 200 limited-edition and numbered prints, signed by Joe Paterno, are being sold to raise money for the 2008 dance marathon. All 200 prints are projected to sell before THON 2008, February 22-24, 2008, garnering nearly $40,000 for the charity. This project may extend for a few years.

Livorio’s outstanding academic work has been recognized with several awards, including the Brian Betzler Memorial Scholarship (2005, 2007) and the Edwin Zoller Scholarship (2006). In addition, her Schreyer Honors College thesis art exhibition was on display at the Woskob Family Gallery in the Downtown Theatre Center.

Livorio hopes to study art for a year in Italy as a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar and to pursue her master’s degree in painting. She plans to continue her mural and portrait business while selling her work to galleries.

Contact: Flora Marynak, 814-863-0621, fwm1@psu.edu