Twelve Young Writers and Artists Named Best in the Country

New York, NY (April 8, 2008) -- 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 2008 recipients of the prestigious Awards, including twelve high school seniors honored with the highest level of achievement, the Portfolio Gold Award. The twelve recipients (listed below) will each receive a $10,000 cash award and special recognition.

More than 1,100 of America’s most talented junior high and high school students (grades 7-12) representing nearly every state in the country were chosen to receive national awards, as well as opportunities for writing and art scholarships. An additional $3 million in art and writing scholarships is made available to top seniors for their outstanding work. (To find out who in your state received a national award, click here.)

On June 5, Award recipients of 2008 will be honored at a special ceremony at Carnegie Hall in New York City. To celebrate the Awards’ 85th year anniversary, Portfolio and other selected work will be showcased at exhibitions in three highly respected Manhattan galleries: White Columns (May 29-June 7), Reeves Contemporary (June 4-7) and NYArts Gallery (June 2-13).

“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 Bryan Doerries, Program Director of the nonprofit Alliance for Young Artists & Writers, which administers the Awards. “For 85 years, the Awards has recognized teenagers who have become some of the country’s most significant artists and writers—and we will continue to encourage new generations on their journeys.”

Distinguished past recipients include Andy Warhol, Robert Redford, Sue Miller, Richard Avedon, Zac Posen, Joyce Carol Oates, Tom Otterness, Sylvia Plath, John Lithgow, Joyce Maynard, David Salle and Francine Prose, who received recognition when they were in high school.

Recipients of the art scholarships through the 2008 Art Portfolio Gold Award are James Bertucci of New Lenox, Illinois; Rivca Dubuisson of Miami, Florida; Jordan Stearns of Towson, Maryland; Shawn Smith of Interlochen, Michigan and Francisca Wistuba of Houston, Texas. Recipients of the writing scholarships through the Writing Portfolio Gold Awards are Victoria Cole of Greenville, South Carolina; Jasmine Hu of San Jose, California; Emma Morrison of Brooklyn, New York; Virginia Pfaehler of Mount Pleasant, South Carolina and Vivian Truong of Brooklyn, New York. The two Photography Portfolio Gold Award recipients are Rodney Jones of Dundalk, Maryland and Wilmer Wilson of Petersburgh, Virginia.

Each year, the Alliance receives thousands of works of art and writing, submitted through regional affiliate programs across the nation for consideration in 25 categories of art and writing. The submissions are evaluated locally and nationally by a panel of jurors comprised of renowned artists, authors, educators and arts professionals.

Please visit www.artandwriting.org for more information about the Alliance for Young Artists and Writers and The Scholastic Art & Writing Awards.

**Interviews, images of art, works of writing and a complete list of the 2008 Scholastic Art & Writing Award Recipients are available upon request.**

Contacts:
Scholastic
Jennifer Boggs
212-343-6619
jboggs@scholastic.com