Back in February, national adjudication kicked off here at Scholastic HQ in New York City for the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, the nation's longest-running and most prestigious recognition program for creative teens in grades 7–12. Today, the nonprofit Alliance for Young Artists & Writers is thrilled to announce the talented 2015 National winners!
You check out the full list of National winners here.
This year, more than 300,000 works of art and writing were submitted for adjudication at the regional level in the Awards’ 28 categories (a record-breaking number of submissions). From this pool of Gold Key winners, over 1,900 teens from 47 U.S. states, Washington, D.C. and American schools abroad received national recognition, with 16 high school seniors receiving the program’s highest national honor, the Portfolio Gold Medal, which includes a $10,000 cash scholarship.
Recipients of the 2015 Portfolio Gold Medal Award are:
- Eamon Aldridge, age 18, of Gilford, NH
- Ron Anahaw, 17, Towson, MD
- Benjamin Bear, 18, Rockford, IL
- Vinny Deoliveira, 19, Miami, FL
- Trace DePass, 17, Jamaica, NY
- Edil Hassan, 18, Burlington, VT
- Max Johnson, 18, Falls Church, VA
- Grant Mcclure, 18, Greenville, SC
- Aylen Mercado, 18, Memphis, TN
- Alexis Payne, 17, Pittsburgh, PA
- Tanner Rhines, 19, Fairbanks, AK
- Hannah Richter, 18, Miami, FL
- Amelia Roskin-Frazee, 18, San Francisco, CA
- Vanessa Sosa, 18, Pasadena, TX
- Monique Taylor, 17, Saginaw, MI
- Omar Wiseman, 18, Los Angeles, CA
These 16 top winners from across the country blew judges away with their originality, technical skill and emergence of personal vision or voice. Congratulations to the Portfolio Gold Medalists and all national Award-winning students!
National winners in the Awards gain access to exhibition and publication opportunities including the Art.Write.Now.Tour, National Exhibition and Best Teen Writing. They also gain access to scholarships—with national Award-winning high school seniors gaining access to a special scholarship pool of more than $10 million through Alliance partnerships with esteemed colleges and universities across the U.S. These incredible teens walk in the footsteps of renowned alumni who have gone on to become leaders in their fields, including Andy Warhol, Sylvia Plath, Richard Avedon, Stephen King, Richard Linklater, Zac Posen and Lena Dunham, who all won Scholastic Art & Writing Awards when they were teens. I think it's safe to say that the 2015 National Award winners are truly the next generation of creative leaders.
Lastly, stay tuned for the National Celebration this June! This celebratory week in NYC will kick off on June 5 with the opening of the Art.Write.Now.2015 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 11.
Find out more about the Awards on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr, and LinkedIn. And don't forget to use #AWawards!
Artwork by 2015 Portfolio Gold Medalist Omar Wiseman, courtesy of the Alliance for Young Artists & Writers
