Today, we are celebrating the nation’s most creative teens.
The nonprofit Alliance for Young Artists & Writers (the Alliance) is elated to announce the national award recipients of the 2016 Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, the nation’s longest-running and most prestigious recognition program for creative teens in grades 7–12.
You check out the full list of national winners here.
A record-breaking 320,000 works of art and writing were submitted for adjudication at the regional level in the Awards’ 29 categories, which include poetry, photography, sculpture, humor, editorial cartoons, video game design and more.
This is a big deal for teen artists and writers! Did you know the Awards have fostered the creativity and talent of millions of students, including renowned alumni who have gone on to become leaders in their fields, including Andy Warhol, Truman Capote, Richard Avedon, Philip Pearlstein, and Sylvia Plath. More recently, Stephen King, Richard Linklater, Zac Posen, and Lena Dunham received Scholastic Art & Writing Awards when they were teens.
We are especially proud to announce the 16 high school seniors who received the program’s highest national honor, the Gold Medal Portfolio, which includes a $10,000 scholarship. In total, the Alliance awards more than $250,000 in scholarships annually to top Awards recipients and their educators. The Alliance also partners with art institutes, colleges, and universities to earmark scholarships for college-bound Scholastic Awards recipients.
Recipients of the 2016 Gold Medal Portfolio are:
- Leonardo Bacan, age 19, Miami, FL
- Shayla Grace Calaban, age 18, Indianapolis, IN
- Abraham Cone, age 17, Chelsea, MI
- Razan Elbaba, age 17, Vienna, VA
- Zachary Endicott, age 18, St. Petersburg, FL
- Adam Gowan, age 17, Toronto, Canada
- Sophie Hullinger, age 18, West Palm, Beach, FL
- Allison Jiang, age 17, Holmdel, NJ
- Nyanna Johnson, age 17, Dayton, OH
- Fiona Jungmann, age 17, Andover, MA
- Sophia Mautz, age 17, Portland, OR
- Ruhoan Miao, age 17, Chandler, AZ
- Rachel Page, age 17, Washington, DC
- Conor Twohy, age 17, Towson, MD
- Sydni Wells, age 17, Miami, FL
- Alex Zhang, age 18, Exeter, NH
Congratulations to the Gold Medal Portfolio recipients and all national Award-winning students!
Stayed tuned for more! The National Celebration will happen this June! This celebratory week in New York City will begin on June 2 with the opening of the Art.Write.Now.2016 National Exhibition featuring more than 1,000 Award-winning visual and literary works. And, of course, don’t forget the National Ceremony at Carnegie Hall on June 2.
Find out more about the Awards on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr, and LinkedIn. And don't forget to use #GoldKey!
The Alliance for Young Artists & Writers
