Yesterday we announced the national winners of this year’s 2021 Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, which includes the 16 recipients of the Awards’ high honors. We also named painter Tschabalala Self as this year’s Alumni Achievement Award recipient.
The Alliance for Young Artists & Writers announced the National Medalists for the 98th annual 2021 Scholastic Art & Writing Awards—the nation’s longest-running and most prestigious recognition program for creative student artists and writers in grades 7–12!
This year, nearly 230,000 works were entered into the Awards by students from every state in the nation for adjudication. Students had the opportunity to enter any of the Awards’ 28 categories—including short story, fashion design, photography, memoir, printmaking, poetry, and novel writing—as well as a variety of sponsored award scholarships.
Among the more than 1,700 students who received news of their recognition at the national level of the Awards program, we are very proud to announce the names of the 16 high school seniors who received the program’s highest national honor, the Gold Medal Portfolio, which includes a $10,000 scholarship!
The 2021 Gold Medal Portfolio recipients are:
Gold Portfolios, Art:
- Brianna Blue, Brooklyn, NY
- Maximo Guerra, Miami, FL
- Amellia Hausmann, Memphis, TN
- Helena Hockertz, Surrey
- Myah Jackson-Solomon, Towson, MD
- Alyvia Luong, Fort Wayne, IN
- Hailey Petersen, Golden Valley, MN
- Nathan Yang, Los Angeles, CA
Gold Portfolios, Writing:
- Caroline Dinh, Rockville, MD
- Grace Gomez-Palacio, Columbia, MO
- Yasmeen Jaaber, Chesterfield, VA
- Zelda Godsey-Kellogg, Greenville, SC
- Keerthi Lakshmanan, Cupertino, CA
- Justin Li, Basking Ridge, NJ
- Sylvia Nicholas-Patterson, Lakeland, FL
- Esther Sun, Los Gatos, CA
Additionally, the Alliance named acclaimed painter Tschabalala Self as this year’s recipient of the Alumni Achievement Award. This accolade is given to esteemed alumni whose innovative careers have influenced their industries and who credit their first acknowledgement in the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards as a pivotal moment in their teenage years, providing confidence and encouragement to explore the arts and beyond.
Congratulations to Tschabalala Self, the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards’ 2021 Gold Medal Portfolio recipients, and all the national Award-winning students!
Please stay tuned in the coming weeks—we’ll be featuring each of the 16 incredible teens who received Gold Medal Portfolios and their inspiring work in an exclusive series right here on the blog!
Find out more about this year’s Awards on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr, and LinkedIn. And don't forget to tag on social media using @ArtAndWriting #GoldKey!
Cover photo: Courtesy of the Alliance for Young Artists & Writers; Photos in body:Tschabalala Self, Headshot, Photograph Courtesy of Josefina Santos.
