By Brianna Robinson

It’s getting closer!  The Scholastic Art & Writing Awards National Ceremony at Carnegie Hall is happening next Friday.  Hundreds of talented young artists and writers will descend upon New York City to receive their national medals and grace the stage of the world famous Carnegie Hall.  And we can’t wait to meet them in person!  Over the past few weeks, I have had the pleasure of getting to know this year’s Gold Portfolio winners and they are simply amazing in their talent and personalities so I wanted to give you the chance to get to know them too.  To start, keep reading for a sneak peek at some of the work by our Portfolio Gold artists.

Leo Purman and Drew Shields are proof that the Milwaukee area has something to say when it comes to art.  I have found that we just can’t stop staring at Leo’s simple but brilliant photography and Drew’s intricate pieces of art.

Chelsea Borsack, Felipe Di Poi, and Batrek Yassa all hail from nearby.  Chelsea is a photographer that took to her home area of Long Island to find inspiration.  When she found it, she paired emotional portraits with impactful still life to create one moving image.  Felipe from Connecticut likes to show his personality in his art – particularly his humor.  Batrek from New Jersey poured himself and his family into his work to create paintings that show insight into a family that has come together to take care of his mother as she battles an illness.

And finally, from completely different areas of the country we have Brianna Robinson and Elise Wunderlich.  Brianna from North Carolina had an idea one day about images of floating people that expressed emotions and she ran with it – or maybe floated away with it?  It is her in the picture at the start of this post!  Elise from Oregon found inspiration in materials around her from eggshells to puzzle pieces.  I’m still in awe of the talent it took to create the eggshell piece pictured here.

Explore these pieces and learn more about these artists as well as our writers on the Alliance’s blog!  Plus, we’ll have more details for you about Carnegie Hall (exciting guests are coming) and where these students’ work will be exhibited so hopefully you can stop by.

Would you ever has guessed these were all created by artists in high school?

By Drew Shields

By Leo Purman

By Elise Wunderlich

By Batrek Yassa

By Felipe Di Poi

By Chelsea Borsack