Art Teacher’s Donation Establishes Scholarship Fund

Kasmira Mohanty cherished Amy Worth as a colleague and fellow professional artist when they worked together as Huntington High School art teachers. They formed a friendship that remained even after Mrs. Worth retired in June 2015. When Mrs. Worth died unexpectedly this past August 26 of leukemia it was devastating to everyone who held her dear.

Huntington School Board members accepted a donation from Ms. Mohanty of $10,000 to the district for the purpose of establishing the Amy Ledogar Worth Memorial Scholarship Fund.

District officials said the new scholarship “will provide financial support for students accepted into an accredited college offering classes in programs that include, but not limited to, arts or fashion design.”

Raised in Douglaston, New York and a graduate of Cathedral School of St. Mary’s, Mrs. Worth and her husband, Tom Payne, operated the South Street Gallery in Greenport from 2006-2021. She taught classes in drawing, painting, color theory and collage at the gallery and throughout Suffolk’s North Fork. She also produced her own gorgeous work was in oil, collage, clay, fiber and other mediums. Her paintings and collages have been exhibited at the Heckscher Museum of Art in Huntington, the Southampton Cultural Center and the Long Island Museum.

Mrs. Worth studied textile design at the Fashion Institute of Technology and worked as a textile artist for over 25 years. Her fabric and wallpaper designs are part of the product lines of Ralph Lauren, Paloma Picasso and Calvin Klein. After raising her children, she returned to school and obtained a BA at Queens College and a master’s degree in education at C.W. Post.

She helped create Huntington High School’s fashion design and illustration program, which remains popular. When it came time to move on, Mrs. Worth found the decision to be a difficult one and then cherished every class until the final bell rang..

“Deciding to retire was one of the hardest decisions I’ve made in my life,” Mrs. Worth said. “I will miss my students and everyone I’ve had the great pleasure of working with in my 12 years at Huntington High School.  I am not counting the days, but rather savoring what’s left!”