On behalf of the Alliance for Young Artists & Writers, I’m excited to announce the complete list of National Winners of the 2012 Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, the country’s longest-running and most prestigious award and recognition program for creative teenagers. With more than 200,000 submissions from students in grades 7-12, this year’s competition attracted more participants than ever before! Needless to say, we were completely blown away by the caliber of the work submitted. Virginia McEnerney, Executive Director of the Alliance, says it best: “After meeting these students and viewing their work, you can’t help but feel optimistic and excited about the future of America’s creative leadership.” We couldn’t agree more.
Students’ works were blindly judged, first locally through the 116 affiliates of the Alliance for Young Artists & Writers, the presenting nonprofit of the Awards, and then nationally by panels of judges comprised of renowned artists, authors, educators, and industry professionals.
Fifteen of the most outstanding high school seniors were honored with a Portfolio Gold Award, the highest level of achievement, which includes a $10,000 cash scholarship. Recipients of the 2012 Portfolio Gold Awards are: Lashanda Anakwah of Bronx, NY; Chelsea Borsack of Oceanside, NY; Haeyeon Cho of Milton, MA; Sarah Devlin of New Orleans, LA; Felipe Di Poi of West Hartford, CT; Emma Goldberg of New York, NY; Leah Lierz of Greenville, SC; Leo Purman of Milwaukee, WI; Brianna Robinson of Charlotte, NC; Drew Shields of Milwaukee, WI; Diane Ward of Brandon, MS; Rosa Wolf of Boise, ID; Elise Wunderlich of Lake Oswego, OR; Batrek Yassa of Jersey City, NJ and Yan Zhang of Omaha, NE.
On June 1, the Alliance will honor the national winners onstage at a special ceremony at the world-famous Carnegie Hall alongside well-known illustrator and Award alumnus Edward Sorel. To extend the festivities, select Award-winning art and writing will be exhibited at Sheila C. Johnson Design Center at Parsons The New School for Design in Manhattan through June 16, 2012.
A huge thank you to the incredibly talented teens who submitted their art and writing to this year’s competition, and congratulations to all of our national winners!