The ProMusica Student Art Competition is sponsored by the Marion Anderson Fund and the Mary E. Suedbeck Fund for the Encouragement of the Arts of Mankato Area Foundation.

Self-taught, Mankato artist Marian Anderson earned both local and national recognition for her painting. She spent many hours as a resident artist in both elementary and secondary schools, encouraging budding artists to realize their own potential. Her foundation continues to promote that value.

Mary E. Suedbeck, with her disabled husband, struggled to raise three children during the depression. She ran a boarding house, took in laundry, and had little time for the more gracious aspects of life like art or music. This fund was established in her memory so that others might pursue dreams that sadly she and many of her generation were, by circumstances, denied.