Today we announced the country’s most creative teens!
The nonprofit Alliance for Young Artists & Writers (the Alliance) is excited to announce the national award recipients of the 2017 Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, the nation’s longest-running and most prestigious recognition program for creative teens in grades 7–12.
A full list of national winners can be found here.
A record-breaking 330,000 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.
The Awards have helped foster the creativity and talent of millions of students across the United States. Alumni of the Awards 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 as teens.
We are particularly 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. Overall, the Alliance awards more than $300,000 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 2017 Gold Medal Portfolio are:
- Zainab Adisa, age 17, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
- Zara Batalvi, age 16, Alexandria, Virginia
- Rachel Campos, age 17, Peru, Indiana
- Carissa Chen, age 17, Exeter, New Hampshire
- Hailee Cook, age 17, Las Cruces, New Mexico
- Megan Cox, age 17, Memphis, Tennessee
- Benjamin Cruz, age 17, Idyllwild, California
- Kate Forer, age 17, Carbondale, Illinois
- Seth Gozar, age 17, Jacksonville, Florida
- Chasity Hale, age 18, Miami, Florida
- Kejii Ishida, age 17, Los Angeles, California
- Bronwyn Katz, age 18, Atlanta, Georgia
- Elizabeth Lee, age 18, Boise, Idaho
- Jonathan Maldonado, age 17, Bronx, New York
- Alixandra Wilens, age 17, Bellmore, New York
- Sam Zanowski, age 18, Wauwatosa, Wisconsin
Congratulations to the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards 2017 Gold Medal Portfolio recipients and to all national Award-winning students!
Save the Date! The National Ceremony will take place at Carnegie Hall in NYC on June 8. This ceremony will feature celebrity guests and the top creative leaders in the arts.
Find out more about the Awards on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr, and LinkedIn. And don't forget to tag on social media using #GoldKey!
