NEW YORK, Sept. 12, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- The Scholastic
Art & Writing Awards, the nation's longest-running and most
prestigious scholarship and recognition program for creative teens,
are now accepting submissions from students across the country in
grades 7–12. Presented by the nonprofit Alliance for Young
Artists & Writers, the Awards have fostered the talent of
millions of students since 1923 and feature a distinguished list of
alumni including Andy Warhol,
Stephen King, Kay WalkingStick, Joyce
Carol Oates, Charles White,
and Tschabalala Self, all of whom received recognition through the
program when they were teens. In the 2019 program year, nearly
340,000 works were submitted for adjudication at the regional
level, with more than 2,700 students receiving national
recognition, including more than $300,000 in direct scholarships and millions in
tuition support.
To learn more about the 2020 Scholastic Art & Writing
Awards, visit http://artandwriting.org.
"It has always been the mission of the Scholastic Art &
Writing Awards to open the door for students to explore their
artistic talents, pursue their creative goals, and express
themselves while gaining national recognition," said
Christopher Wisniewski, Executive
Director of the Alliance for Young Artists & Writers. "It's
remarkable to see how teens use art and writing to speak their
minds and shine a light on today's most critical issues, and we at
the Alliance look forward to providing these teens with new
opportunities as they set out on their creative
journeys."
Students ages 13 and above residing in the United States, U.S. territories, or
Canada, or enrolled in an
accredited American school internationally, are invited to submit
original work in any of the Awards' 29 art and writing categories,
including architecture, painting, flash fiction, poetry,
printmaking, and video game design. All works are blindly
adjudicated based on originality, technical skill, and the
emergence of personal vision or voice, first on a regional level by
more than 100 local affiliates of the Alliance, and then nationally
by an impressive panel of industry experts. Annually, the Alliance
partners with individuals, foundations, and corporations to offer
scholarship opportunities for students in certain categories or
addressing particular themes.
The 2020 Scholarships and Special Achievement Awards
include:
- American Voices & Visions Medal: The highest
regional honor awarded to one artist and one writer from each
region.
- Best-in-Grade Award: Underwritten by Bloomberg
Philanthropies, this award provides 24 students (two artists and
two writers per grade 7–12) with $500
scholarships and their educators with $250 Awards.
- Civic Expression Award: Underwritten by the Maurice
R. Robinson Fund, this award provides $1,000 scholarships to six students whose art or
writing promotes responsible civic life.
- New York Life Award: Underwritten by the New York Life
Foundation, this award recognizes six students on the national
level with $1,000 scholarships for
their work exploring personal grief, loss, and bereavement, and
their educators with $250 Awards.
Additional $500 scholarships are also
available for two students from each of the following states:
Michigan, Mississippi, Montana, New
Jersey, and New Mexico.
Select students previously recognized through the New York Life
Award will have their work featured in the Scholastic Art &
Writing Awards' newest publication, Healing Through Creativity:
An Art and Writing Anthology and Discussion Guide, as well as
in several locations around the country as part of the New York
Life Exhibition.
- One Earth Award:
Underwritten, in part, by the Salamander Fund of the Triangle
Community Foundation, 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, and their educators
with $250 Awards. Special awards are
also available for students and educators from Georgia, North
Carolina, South Carolina,
and Virginia.
- Portfolio Awards: The program's highest national
honor awarding 16 high school seniors each with a $10,000 scholarship for his or her writing or art
portfolio; 30 Silver Medal with Distinction Portfolio recipients
each receive $1,000
scholarships.
- The Alliance/ACT-SO Journey Award: In partnership with
NAACP Afro-Academic, Cultural, Technological and Scientific
Olympics (ACT-SO), this award provides travel stipends for up to
ten ACT-SO scholars, who receive National Medals, to attend the
National Ceremony at Carnegie Hall.
- The Herblock Award for Editorial Cartoon: Underwritten
by The Herb Block Foundation, this award provides three young
artists with $1,000 scholarships for
their outstanding editorial cartoons.
Deadlines for submissions vary by region, with Scholastic Art
& Writing Awards National Medalists announced in March 2020. In June, the Alliance hosts a week of
celebration in New York City for
students, families, and educators including a ceremony at Carnegie
Hall. The Awards season will culminate in the summer, with
the launch of the Art.Write.Now.Tour, a traveling public
exhibition featuring select 2020 National Medalists' works. Writing
recipients may have their work published in The Best Teen
Writing of 2020, an anthology showcasing stories, essays, and
poetry of teen authors, and art recipients in The Best Teen Art
of 2020, highlighting paintings, photographs, drawings, and
other works by teen artists.
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, New York Life
Foundation, Command Web Offset Co., The New York Times, The
Herb Block Foundation, Blick Art Materials & Utrecht Art
Supplies, Golden Artist Colors, Bloomberg Philanthropies, National
Endowment for the Arts, New York City Department of Cultural
Affairs, 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.
View original content to download
multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/call-for-submissions-now-open-for-the-97th-annual-scholastic-art--writing-awards-300916917.html
SOURCE Scholastic