Local Highlight: Cornish College of the Arts

Transformed with removable white display walls, the spacious lobby of the Cornish Playhouse at Seattle Center displayed the artwork of a select group of extremely talented young visual artists during the 2016 Regional Exhibition. (Photo courtesy of Cornish College of the Arts)

The Scholastic Art & Writing Awards’ national office in New York City is dedicated to growing and supporting our Affiliate Partners across the country. Our Affiliate Partners are doing great work in their communities, and we love hearing about their outreach efforts, their students, and their programs. This month, we shine the spotlight on Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle, Washington, which manages the Washington State Art & Writing Regions. Here’s what Cornish College had to say about Awards activity in their region:

The 2016 Regional Ceremony was held at the college's largest performance venue inside the main auditorium. The best of the best were recognized, as Cornish Vice President of Enrollment Management Jonathan Lindsay handed out the coveted Gold Keys. (Photo courtesy of Cornish College of the Arts) — The 2016 Regional Ceremony was held at the college’s largest performance venue inside the main auditorium. The best of the best were recognized, as Cornish Vice President of Enrollment Management Jonathan Lindsay handed out the coveted Gold Keys. (Photo courtesy of Cornish College of the Arts)

Cornish College of the Arts is preparing for its third cycle as the Washington state Affiliate Partner for the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards. Our program started out small–receiving a little more than 1,200 submissions from a handful of schools across the state last year–but we have big plans to expand our program and become a valuable community partner in art and writing classrooms from Seattle to Spokane. Many regions across the state, especially Seattle, are currently experiencing an economic boom with some of the largest companies in the world like Amazon, Starbucks, and Microsoft headquartered locally. As those companies expand, their need for young creatives grows, and Cornish is proud to provide a variety educational opportunities for those students interested in pursuing their art-forms in high school and beyond.

2016 Regional Exhibition at the Cornish Playhouse (Photo courtesy of Cornish College of the Arts) — Scholastic Awards recipient Courtney Allred of Skyline High School poses before two of her six pieces at the exhibition, including her delicious ice-cream sculpture *Split*. (Photo courtesy of Cornish College of the Arts)

Our exhibition last year, hosted in the lobby of the Seattle Center at the Cornish Playhouse, included more than 200 individual works of art and impressed every visitor to the theater for the few weeks it was installed. One of the many highlights of the exhibition was Gold and Silver Key recipient Courtney Allred’s larger-than-life sculpture Split: a rendition of the classic dessert scaled to fit in a full-size canoe, complete with sprinkles and cherries. The ceremony kicked off with a video of documentarian and Alumni Achievement Award Honoree Ken Burns congratulating all our participants on their magnificent work, viewings of the top short-film submissions, and a presentation of certificates to honor all of our wonderful award recipients.

This year, Cornish is gathering panel of judges to include Chairs of various departments within Cornish College of the Arts as well as a few representatives from the cultural landscape within Seattle’s burgeoning arts scene to choose our next round of award recipients. The exhibition will be held in the Main Campus Gallery where Silver and Gold Key recipients for both art and writing categories, their families, and their educators will be treated to a gallery reception, including a catered spread and readings of Gold Key writing by Cornish theater students. While the dates are yet to be determined, the exhibition will be open to the public and surely well-attended.

The Scholastic Art & Writing Awards are proud to work with organizations like Cornish College of the Arts to help talented students receive recognition for their creative efforts. By partnering together, Cornish College of the Arts and the Scholastic Awards give our youth the support they need to become lasting members of their art and writing communities.