NEW YORK, March 13, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- The
nonprofit Alliance for Young Artists &
Writers today announced the national award
recipients of the 2019 Scholastic Art & Writing
Awards, the nation's longest-running and most prestigious
scholarship and recognition program for creative teens in grades
7–12. This honor opens doors for students by providing access to
scholarship programs and workshops and the ability to have work
published and displayed in regional and National Exhibitions. Top
students are invited to attend the week-long national celebration
in New York City, which includes a
ceremony at Carnegie Hall on June 6.
To learn more, and to find a complete list of the 2019 Scholastic
Art & Writing Awards national recipients, visit:
www.artandwriting.org.
Within the Awards' 29 categories—which include poetry,
photography, sculpture, humor, editorial cartoons, and video game
design—340,000 works of art and writing were submitted by students
from every state in the nation for adjudication at the regional
level this year.
2019 Gold Medal Portfolio Recipients
Sixteen high school seniors received the program's highest national
honor, the Gold Medal Portfolio, which includes a $10,000 scholarship.
Gold Portfolios, Art:
- Gillian Dickinson, Age 17,
Hometown, Boynton Beach, FL
- Will Landis-Croft, Age 17,
Portland, OR
- Joseph Leppo, Age 17,
Atlantic Beach, FL
- Jonathan Olivares Paramo, Age
18, Vista, CA
- Taylor Powers, Age 18,
Houston, TX
- Markel Randle, Age 17,
Wichita, KS
- Hallie Wilson, Age 17,
Richmond, VA
- Simba (Haoran) Xu, Age 17,
Ashburnham, MA
Gold Portfolios, Writing:
- Sandra Chen, Age 17,
Pleasanton, CA
- Brianna Kline Costa, Age 17,
Pittsburgh, PA
- Raven Little, Age 17,
New Orleans, LA
- Athena Nassar, Age 17,
Peachtree City, GA
- Caleb Pan, Age 17, Denver, CO
- Ariana Smith, Age 17,
Las Vegas, NV
- Divjot Walia, Age 17,
Pearland, TX
- Sophia Zhao, Age 17,
Newark, DE
Quotes
Virginia McEnerney, Executive
Director of the Alliance for Young Artists & Writers: "For 96
years, the Awards have recognized the creative promise of
individuals like Andy Warhol,
Kay WalkingStick, Sylvia Plath, Stephen
King, Richard Avedon, and
Zac Posen, and today we honor more
than 2,700 teens as they receive national recognition in the 2019
Scholastic Art & Writing Awards. These students join a legacy
of teens facilitating important dialogue through their art and
writing, and we celebrate their creativity and innovation as the
next generation of great American artists and writers."
Lucianne Walkowicz, noted
astronomer, multimedia artist, former chair of Astrobiology at the
Library of Congress, and 2019 Scholastic Art & Writing Awards
Alumni Achievement Award Recipient: "I am honored to be receiving
this year's Alumni Achievement Award from the Alliance for Young
Artists & Writers. It was my Scholastic Art & Writing Award
that inspired me to begin combining my two passions; infusing my
art into my career in the sciences, and vice versa. The Awards
changed the trajectory of my life's work, and I'm so excited to see
how this national recognition impacts these unbelievably talented
students for years to come."
2019 Special Scholarships
- The New York Life Award: Provides six scholarships
of $1,000 each to students whose work
explores personal grief, loss, and bereavement, and exemplifies how
the arts can act as a positive outlet to cope with these issues.
This year's recipients are: Zoe
Chen, Age 18, Lynnfield,
MA; Emma Jones, Age 18,
Plainfield, IL; Sofia Liaw, Age 18, Fayetteville, NY; Eric
Schlesinger, Age 17, Naperville,
IL; Makayla Wach, Age 16,
Pittsburgh, PA; and Brian Wee, Age 18, Erie, PA.
- One Earth Award: New this
year, this award provides four students with $1,000 scholarships for creative works that
encourage the awareness of, and meaningful responses to, pressing
issues of human-caused climate change. Additionally, special awards
are also available for students from Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia. This year's recipients are:
Kaylee Chen, Age 13, Irmo, SC; Fiona
Luo, Age 15, Cupertino, CA;
Minda Silvestre, Age 18,
Milwaukee, WI; and Aysha Zackria,
Age 17, Fort Lauderdale, FL.
- The Herblock Award for Editorial Cartoon: Sponsored by
The Herb Block Foundation, the Editorial Cartoon category
celebrates the legacy of four-time Pulitzer Prize-winning political
cartoonist Herb Block and his
remarkable contribution to American history and free expression.
The three teen artists who will receive $1,000 scholarships for their outstanding
drawings, illustrations, or animations offering commentary on
current events or political topics are: Victoria Lu, Age 16, South Hempstead, NY; Zitong Wang, Age 16,
Mercer Island, WA; and
Angelina Yu, Age 15, Cedar Knolls, NJ.
- Civic Expression Award: Underwritten by The Maurice R.
Robinson Fund, this award provides $1,000 scholarships for original works of art or
writing that promote responsible civic life. The six recipients
are: Sabine Croy, Age 15,
Churubusco, IN; Sabrina Guo, Age 13, Oyster Bay, NY; Isabella Newman, Age 16, Richmond, VA; Sigourney Robinson, Age 17, Delray Beach, FL; Lanyce Williams, Age 17, Bartlett, TN; and Tiffany Zheng, Age 13, Flushing NY.
- The ESA Foundation Award for Video Game Design:
Underwritten by the Entertainment Software Association Foundation,
this award provides two students who exhibit excellence in video
game design with $1,000 scholarships.
This year's recipients are: Melissa
Ran, Age 15, Edison, NJ;
and Ella Wilson, Age 16,
Schertz, TX.
- The Alliance/ACT-SO Journey Award: In partnership with
the NAACP's Afro-Academic, Cultural, Technological and Scientific
Olympics (ACT-SO), this award provides travel stipends for select
ACT-SO scholars who receive National Medals to attend the National
Ceremony at Carnegie Hall. This year's recipients are: Katlyn Powell, Age 17, San Antonio, TX; and Zion Thompson, Age 14, Albuquerque, NM.
- Additional Awards and scholarships for students are made
possible through the support of Blick Art Materials & Utrecht
Art Supplies, Bloomberg Philanthropies, Command Web Offset, The
Maurice R. Robinson Fund, The New York
Times, The Roome Fund, and Scholastic Inc.
2019 National Events (New York,
NY)
- June 6, National Ceremony at
Carnegie Hall: The national Gold Portfolio, Gold Medal,
and Silver Medal with Distinction recipients will be honored at
Carnegie Hall, with appearances by notable celebrities and creative
leaders.
- May 31–June 8, Art.Write.Now.2019 National
Exhibition: More than 1,000 of the top Scholastic Art
& Writing Awards visual and literary works will be on display
for the public at the Sheila C. Johnson Design Center at
Parsons School of Design at The New
School, and Pratt Institute's
Pratt Manhattan Gallery in New York
City.
Judging Criteria
All art and writing submissions are blindly judged based on the
same three criteria that have been in place since the program's
founding: originality, technical skill, and emergence of personal
vision or voice. Student works are first adjudicated regionally
through more than 100 local Affiliates of the Alliance. Students
receiving Gold Keys, Silver Keys, Honorable Mentions, or American
Visions & Voices Nominations are celebrated within their
communities through exhibitions and ceremonies. Gold Key works are
then judged nationally by an impressive panel of creative-industry
experts to receive Gold, Silver, American Visions & Voices, and
Gold or Silver with Distinction Portfolio medals.
About the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards
Founded in 1923, the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards are
presented by the 501(c)3 nonprofit organization the Alliance for
Young Artists & Writers, and are made possible through the
generosity of Scholastic Inc., The Maurice R. Robinson Fund,
Command Web Offset Co., The New York Times, New York Life
Foundation, Wells Fargo Foundation, The Herb Block Foundation,
Blick Art Materials & Utrecht Art Supplies, Golden Artist
Colors, Bloomberg Philanthropies, Entertainment Software
Association Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, New
York City Department of Cultural Affairs, Amazon Literary
Partnership, and numerous other individual, foundation, and
corporate funders; and, for the National Student Poets Program, the
Institute of Museum and Library Services and the Poetry
Foundation.
For more information about the Alliance for Young Artists &
Writers, visit www.artandwriting.org. Additional details about the
Awards can be found in the Scholastic media room:
http://mediaroom.scholastic.com/artandwriting.
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SOURCE Scholastic