Contact:
Sara Sinek, ssinek@scholastic.com, 212-343-6899
Mike Barrett, mbarrett@scholastic.com, 212-343-6570

New York, NY – September 14, 2016 – The Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, the nation’s longest-running and most prestigious scholarship and recognition initiative for creative teens, is now accepting submissions from students across the country in grades 7–12. The Awards have fostered creativity and talent since 1923 for millions of students and feature a notable list of alumni recipients including: Richard Avedon, Truman Capote, Stephen King, Sylvia Plath, Robert Redford and Andy Warhol; and more recently, Richard Linklater and Zac Posen. To learn more about submission details for the 2017 Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, visit http://www.artandwriting.org.

“Teenagers are pushing artistic boundaries and challenging themselves creatively every day, and we are deeply honored to recognize their efforts and accomplishments,” said Virginia McEnerney, Executive Director of the Alliance for Young Artists & Writers. “For nearly a century, the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards have not only provided a launching pad for many extraordinary artists and writers, but also lets millions of teens know that creative thinking, problem solving and experimentation serve them well in any path they chose in life.”

SCHOLARSHIPS: New & Notable

• Gold Medal Portfolio: 16 high school seniors receive the program’s highest national honor, the Gold Medal Portfolio, which includes a $10,000 scholarship for their writing or artwork portfolio.
• The New York Life Award sponsored by the New York Life Foundation to recognize teens exploring issues of grief and bereavement in their creative work and providing six young artists and writers with $1,000 scholarships;
• The Herblock Award for Editorial Cartoon sponsored by The Herb Block Foundation to provide three young artists with $1,000 scholarships for their outstanding editorial cartoons.
• The RBC “Flaunt It” Award sponsored by the Royal Bank of Canada to provide two $1,000 scholarships to students whose work showcases and celebrates individual differences.
• The Gedenk Award for Tolerance provides six $1,000 scholarships to students whose work attempts to raise awareness of the importance of increasing tolerance in the world today.
• The Neiman Marcus Award for Fashion and The Neiman Marcus Award for Jewelry provides one artist in each category with $1,000 scholarships.

HOW TO ENTER the 2017 Scholastic Art & Writing Awards:

• Students in grades 7–12 in the U.S. and its territories, as well as American schools abroad, are invited to submit creative and original work in any of the Awards’ 29 art and writing categories, including architecture, painting, flash fiction, poetry, printmaking and video game design.
• All works are evaluated through blind adjudication first on a regional level by more than 100 local affiliates of the Alliance and then nationally by an impressive panel of creative-industry experts. This past year’s group of distinguished jurors included graphic novelist Art Spiegelman; authors Elissa Schappell, Daniel José Older, and Naomi Jackson; artist Mickalene Thomas; and film producer Michael Raisler.
• At each level of judging, all works are selected to move on to the next stage based on the same criteria that have represented the program since its founding in 1923: originality, technical skill, and emergence of personal vision or voice.
• Deadlines for submission vary by region throughout the winter months, with National Medalists announced in March 2016. More information is available at http://www.artandwriting.org/guidelines.

2016-17 TIMELINE:

• Winter 2016: Regional recipients are announced. Gold Key, Silver Key, Honorable Mention, and American Visions & Voices Nomination are honored locally through community ceremonies and exhibitions. All Gold Key recipients are considered for the next round of national awards and honors.
• March 2017: National Recipients & Sponsored Awards announced.
• June 2017: National Gold Medal Portfolio and Gold Medalists are honored at Carnegie Hall with their families and educators. Last year’s ceremony included special appearances by Alec Baldwin, Ken Burns, Billy Collins, Tim Gunn and Sonia Manzano.
• Summer 2017: Selected 2017 National Medalists’ works will be highlighted in the Art.Write.Now.Tour, a traveling exhibition publicly displaying award-winning, teen-produced art and writing. Writing recipients may have their work published in The Best Teen Writing 2017, an anthology showcasing stories, essays and poetry of teen authors. The 2016 edition is available at http://artandwriting.org/publications.

ABOUT THE SCHOLASTIC ART & WRITING AWARDS:

• For 94 years, the Awards, presented by the nonprofit Alliance for Young Artists & Writers, have identified the early promise of some of our nation’s most accomplished visionaries and encouraged young artists and writers to pursue a variety of creative career paths and endeavors. In the 2016 program year, a record-breaking 320,000 works were submitted for adjudication at the regional level, with more than 2,500 public, private and home-schooled students receiving national recognition. Each year, exhibition, publication and scholarship opportunities are made available to students honored through the program for their creative work in 29 categories, with opportunities expanding each year.

SPONSORS:

• The Alliance is grateful for its generous sponsors, who provide funds to support and produce the Scholastic Awards at the national level: Scholastic Inc., The Maurice R. Robinson Fund, Command Web Offset Co., The New York Times, the New York Life Foundation, The Herb Block Foundation, Blick Art Materials & Utrect Art Supplies, the Gedenk Movement, the Royal Bank of Canada, Golden Artist Colors, Neiman Marcus, Bloomberg Philanthropies, the ESA Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, and Amazon; numerous other individual, foundation, and corporate funders; and, for the National Student Poets Program, the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities , the Institute of Museum and Library Services, the Poetry Foundation, the Bernstein Family Foundation, and the Academy of American Poets.

For more information about the Alliance for Young Artists & Writers and the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, visit the Scholastic News Room: http://mediaroom.scholastic.com/artandwriting.