The
next Andy Warhol, Truman Capote or Joyce
Carol Oates may have crossed the stage at
Carnegie Hall on Thursday, June 5th,
as the nation’s most talented young writers
and artists were honored at
The
Scholastic Art & Writing Awards.
The national program, celebrating its 85th
anniversary this year, offers early
recognition of creative teenagers and
scholarship opportunities for graduating
high school seniors. This year more than
500 creative teens traveled to New York City
where their achievements were celebrated by
family, industry leaders, educators and
patrons, along with Academy Award-winning
actress Kathy Bates,
singer-songwriter Mike Doughty and
Award alums artist Philip Pearlstein
(1941 and 1942) and author Joyce Maynard
(1966-1971).
As part of the
celebration, select artwork and writing were
on public display at three highly respected
New York
City galleries:
White Columns,
Reeves Contemporary and
NYArts Broadway Gallery. The Alliance
for Young Artists & Writers, the nonprofit
organization that administers The Awards,
also offered national recipients a special
workshop series in New York City, including
cultural and career seminars at professional
institutions, such as the
Guggenheim Museum, Whitney Museum of
American Art, the
New York Public Library, Atlantic
Theater Company, The New Museum and
BlipTV.
“For 85 years,
The Scholastic Art & Writing Awards have
encouraged countless young writers and
artists,” said Virginia McEnerney, Executive
Director of the Alliance. “This year, we are
celebrating the many directions a creative
life can take by honoring our illustrious
alumni alongside our national award
winners.”
Since
Scholastic founded the program in 1923, The
Awards have recognized such distinguished
past recipients as Richard Avedon, Mel
Bochner, Truman Capote, Robert Indiana, John
Lithgow, Bernard Malamud, Joyce Maynard, Sue
Miller, Joyce Carol Oates, Tom Otterness,
Sylvia Plath, Zac Posen, Robert Redford,
Andy Warhol and Sherley Anne Williams, who
all received awards when they were in high
school.
Each year, the
Alliance receives tens of 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.
Visit
www.artandwriting.org
for more information about The Scholastic
Art & Writing Awards and The Alliance for
Young Artists and Writers.
# # #
**Student
interviews, work samples or complete list of
recipients are available upon request.**
Contacts:
Jennifer Boggs, Scholastic, 212.343.6619 /
jboggs@scholastic.com
Cathy
Lasiewicz, Scholastic, 212.343.6570 /
clasiewicz@scholastic.com