In celebration of the Awards’ centennial, the nonprofit Alliance for Young Artists & Writers announces nearly half a million dollars in scholarship funds for creative teens, including increased portfolio awards and the inaugural Dav Pilkey Awards set to honor 12 high school seniors and educators with scholarships

New York, NY – September 7, 2022 – The Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, the nation’s longest-running and most prestigious scholarship program for creative teens, has officially opened the 100^th annual call for submissions. Student artists and writers in grades 7–12 from across the United States and Canada are invited to enter original works for recognition, scholarship opportunities, and to earn their place in the program’s centennial class of medalists, joining the ranks of notable alumni who received recognition through the program as teens—including Ken Burns, Derek Fordjour, Joyce Carol Oates, José Parlá, and Tschabalala Self.

To learn more about the 2023 Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, or to enter work in any of the program’s 28 categories, visit: artandwriting.org

For the past 100 years, the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards have been a space for teens to push boundaries and make waves with their creative pursuits. The program has served as a launch pad for generations of artists, writers, and professionals in a wide variety of industries, with many luminaries attributing their confidence to pursue their careers to the Awards. Since their inception, the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards have encouraged the passions, talents, and perspectives of millions of teens, validating their creative abilities and the belief that their voices matter.

“Since 1923, the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards have championed teens’ artistic endeavors and provided a space for creative young people to express themselves, and contribute their voices and ideas to a larger conversation. The original works of art and writing we’ve recognized throughout the past 100 years have not only been inspiring and thought provoking, but together reflect our country’s history, culture, struggles, and achievements. As we enter our second century, our mission has never been more vital, and I can’t wait to see what a new generation of young artists and writers shares with us through the Awards,” said Christopher Wisniewski, Executive Director of the Alliance for Young Artists & Writers, the nonprofit administrator of the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards.

To kick off the 100^th year of recognizing the nation’s creative teens, the Alliance is excited to announce that worldwide bestselling author and award-winning illustrator Dav Pilkey (Dog Man, Cat Kid Comic Club, Captain Underpants) will underwrite the scholarships of 12 high school seniors for their outstanding portfolios—two Gold Medal Portfolio Award student scholarships worth $12,500 each as well as 10 Silver Medal with Distinction Portfolio Award student scholarships worth $2,000 each. As part of The Dav Pilkey Awards which total nearly $50,000, each recognized student’s educator will also receive $1,000 for each of the two Gold Medal Portfolio Awards and $250 for each educator of Silver Medal with Distinction Portfolio Award recipients.

As a young adult, Dav Pilkey, whose teacher encouraged him to illustrate and write books, won a national competition which led to the publication of his first picture book. He continued to make many acclaimed books for children before being awarded a Caldecott Honor. For more, visit //mediaroom.scholastic.com/davpilkey.

The Dav Pilkey Awards join a long list of both new and previously established scholarships and sponsored awards. Annually, the Alliance partners with individuals, foundations, and corporations to offer scholarship opportunities for students in certain categories or addressing particular themes.  

The 2023 scholarships and cash awards include:

·       *NEW* The Flaunt It Award: Developed in collaboration with Don’t Hide It, Flaunt It (DHIFI, Inc.), a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that works to advance acceptance, tolerance, and mutual respect for people’s visible or invisible differences. The Award, underwritten by Don’t Hide It, Flaunt It, RBC Foundation USA, and Morgan Stanley, recognizes teens who look or feel different and who reflect and share their experiences (whether it be challenges, acceptance, or a celebration) about what makes them unique.

o   The Flaunt It Award includes two $1,000 scholarships (one for art and one for writing) for teens whose outstanding work explores DHIFI’s theme: “The things that make me different make me, me.”

·       *UPDATED* Portfolio Awards: The program’s highest national honor, 16 Gold Portfolio Award recipients will now receive $12,500 scholarships for their writing or art portfolio, an increase from $10,000 previously, and their educators will receive $1,000 awards; 24 Silver Medal with Distinction Portfolio Award recipients will now receive $2,000 scholarships, an increase from $1,000 previously, with their educators receiving $250 awards.

·       The Herblock Award for Editorial Cartoon: Underwritten by The Herb Block Foundation, this award provides three young artists with $1,000 scholarships for visual art that offers commentary on current events, social events, or political topics, and their educators with $250 awards.

·       New York Life Award: Underwritten by the New York Life Foundation, this award recognizes six students on the national level with $1,000 scholarships for their work exploring personal grief, loss, and bereavement, and their educators with $250 awards. Additional $500 scholarships are also available for two students from each of the following states: California, Nevada, New Jersey, Ohio, Tennessee, and Texas.

·       Alliance/ACT-SO Journey Award: In partnership with the NAACP’s Afro-Academic, Cultural, Technological and Scientific Olympics (ACT-SO), this award provides full-tuition scholarships to attend summer art or writing programs for up to ten ACT-SO scholars, who also receive Gold or Silver Keys at the regional level of the Awards.

Students ages 13 and up residing in the United States, U.S. territories and military bases, or Canada are invited to submit original work in any of the Awards’ 28 art and writing categories, including drawing and illustration, photography, flash fiction, poetry, film and animation, and journalism. All works are selected for Awards based on originality, skill, and the emergence of personal vision or voice and without knowledge of the student’s name, gender, age, ethnicity, or hometown. Works are reviewed first on a regional level by more than 100 local affiliates of the Alliance, and those that receive Gold Keys then are adjudicated nationally by an impressive panel of industry experts. Entry fees are $10 for individual entries and $30 for portfolios. Fees can be waived for any potential participant for whom the fee is a barrier for entry. Fee waivers are made possible, in part, by BLICK Art Materials.   

Deadlines for entries vary by region. The National Medalists of the 2023 Scholastic Art & Writing Awards will be announced in March 2023, and throughout the spring the Alliance will host a series of virtual and in-person celebrations for students, families, and educators, culminating with the summer launch of the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards Traveling Exhibition, a touring public exhibition featuring select 2023 National Medalists’ works. Recipients may have their work published in anthologies showcasing stories, essays, and poetry by teen authors, and highlighting paintings, photographs, drawings, and other works by teen artists. For more details about the Awards, visit www.artandwriting.org.

About the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards

Founded in 1923, the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards are presented by the 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization the Alliance for Young Artists & Writers, and are made possible through the generosity of Scholastic Inc., New York Life Foundation, The Maurice R. Robinson Fund, Bloomberg Philanthropies, Command Companies, The Herb Block Foundation, The Jay Pritzker Foundation, Quad and The Windhover Foundation, BLICK Art Materials, National Endowment for the Arts, The New York Times, Don’t Hide It, Flaunt It, RBC Foundation USA, Morgan Stanley, AppleTV+, Lindenmeyr Book Publishing Papers, Garcia Family Foundation, New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, and numerous other individual, foundation, and corporate funders; and, for the National Student Poets Program, the Institute of Museum and Library Services, The Hearthland Foundation, Poetry Foundation, and Academy of American Poets.

For more information about the Alliance for Young Artists & Writers, visit www.artandwriting.org. Additional details about the Awards can be found in the Scholastic media room: //mediaroom.scholastic.com/artandwriting.

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