New York, NY — April 7, 2010 — Who are the most talented young writers and artists in America? The Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, a national program that identifies and develops creative teenagers, today announced the 2010 winners of the prestigious Awards, including 15 high school seniors honored with the Portfolio Gold Award, the highest level of achievement. The 15 winners (listed below) will each receive a $10,000 award to help pay for college, plus special recognition on the stage of Carnegie Hall in New York on June 9. Click here to see their outstanding work.

In addition, 500 seniors who received a national award are also eligible for scholarships— from $500 to full tuition— at more than 60 colleges, universities and art institutes across the country that provide $3.9 million in art and writing scholarships annually to help these young artists and writers pay for college. More than 1,300 of America’s most talented students in grades 7-12, representing nearly every state in the country, were chosen to receive national awards. To find out who in your state received a national award, click here.

On June 9, the Alliance for Young Artists & Writers, the nonprofit organization which runs the Awards, will honor winners at a special ceremony at the world-famous Carnegie Hall in New York City. Selected award-winning art and writing will be exhibited at the World Financial Center Courtyard Gallery in Lower Manhattan from June 9-25.

"Since Scholastic’s founder M.R. Robinson established the Art & Writing Awards, the program has been an oasis for the more than 13 million creative young people who have participated," said Virginia McEnerney, Executive Director of the Alliance. "For 87 years, winning an Art & Writing Award has provided early recognition and support for teenagers, many of whom have gone on to produce pioneering creative work with worldwide impact. We are excited to encourage new generations in their creative and professional development."

Distinguished past recipients include Andy Warhol, Robert Redford, Kay WalkingStick, Richard Avedon, Zac Posen, Tom Otterness, Sylvia Plath, Bernard Malamud, Philip Pearlstein, Carolyn Forche, Mel Bochner, Joyce Carol Oates and John Lithgow, who all received recognition when they were in high school.

Recipients of the art scholarships through the 2010 Art Portfolio Gold Award are Sally Baek of Matthews, NC; Xavier Donnelly of Burlington, VT; Shawn Glover of Orangeburg, SC; Jack Kavanagh of Clinton, CT; Sean Pettiford of Dayton, OH; and Benjamin Simon of Bloomfield, MI. Recipients of the writing scholarships through the Writing Portfolio Gold Awards are Rita Feinstein of Glorieta, NM; Alexandra Franklin of Madison, MS; Mackenzie Jacoby of Provo, UT; Loretta Lopez of Guadalajara, Mexico (American School Foundation of Guadalajara); Margaret Nietfeld of Minneapolis, MN; Jake Ross of Greenville, SC; and Rachel Rothenberg of Pittsburgh, PA. The two Photography Portfolio Gold Award recipients are Max Mikulecky of Overland Park, KS and Melisse Sporn of Parkland, FL.

Each year, the Alliance receives thousands of works of art and writing, submitted through regional affiliate programs across the nation for consideration in over 30 categories. The submissions are evaluated locally and nationally by panels of jurors comprised of renowned artists, authors, educators and arts professionals.

The work of the Alliance is made possible through the support of Scholastic Inc., the Title Sponsor; The New York Times; Command Web Offset Co.; Ovation; The Maurice R. Robinson Fund; Jack Kent Cooke Foundation; AMD Foundation; and Amazon.com.

http://mediaroom.scholastic.com/artandwriting Click here for an online press kit about the Alliance for Young Artists and Writers and The Scholastic Art & Writing Awards.

**Interviews with winners of the 2010 Scholastic Art & Writing Awards and images of art and writing excerpts are all available upon request.**

Contact:

Jennifer Boggs
Scholastic
212.343.6619
jboggs@scholastic.com

Cathy Lasiewicz
Scholastic
212.343.6570
clasiewicz@scholastic.com