The Centennial Exhibition takes a look back at the Awards’ first 100 years as a supporter and promoter of teen creativity. We dove into our archives—both digital and physical—to learn more about the history of the Awards, from the students and educators who entered the Awards every year to the staff, sponsors, and partners whose tireless efforts grew the program from its early days as a local writing contest to generate subscriptions to The Scholastic, the first-of-its-kind magazine for high schoolers, to the largest, most prestigious recognition program for creative teenagers. The Centennial Exhibition will be on display in venues across the country throughout 2023.

Dear Friends of the Scholastic Awards,

It is my honor to present you with a celebratory exhibition one hundred years in the making. As an independent curator who trained in art education, I was hired by the Alliance to conceive and organize an “exhibition in a box” that touts the storied history of the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards. Over the last year, I have worked closely with the Alliance to create a show that lauds the talent, innovation, and determination at the core of this program. Inside this package, you will find a set of panels that tells the story of the Awards’ unparalleled, hundred-year mission to nurture the rich creative lives of American teen artists and writers. By sharing this show across our network, we hope to underscore the vital role community members like you have played—and continue to play—in ensuring the program’s ongoing success.

From the start, our goal for the centennial exhibition was to spotlight the immense work that goes into the Awards each year: the teenagers who generously and adeptly share their stories; the educators who nurture new voices and perspectives; the program organizers who create safe spaces for creative experimentation and play; and the countless jurors, staffers, mentors, and families who have kindled the creative flame for decades. Thanks to these unending efforts by so many, the Awards have seen astronomical growth in their lifetime, beginning with a few thousand participants to hundreds of thousands of entries from teens all over the country in recent years.

From a curatorial perspective, the sheer scale of this project was overwhelming. I pored over hundreds of publications and decades of entries to devise an exhibition that reflects the extraordinary range of mediums, subjects, and narratives that have appeared over the history of this program. For each of the exceptional works featured, I could have easily selected one hundred more.

Indeed, perhaps the strongest through line over a century of the Awards is the omnipresence of inspiration. At once timeless and constantly evolving, the Awards unfailingly demonstrate the ability of young people to see the world from fresh, fascinating viewpoints. Year in and year out, our students spotlight the most pressing issues of the day while still managing to convey the energy, introspection, and growth attendant with adolescence through the ages. We are privileged to be able to honor their insight and spirit so that their gifts may flourish. Generations of young people, encouraged by the support and recognition they received through the Awards, have gone on to shape the course of American literature, film, visual art, and countless other related and unrelated fields. It is our honor to illuminate the path that brought them there and to celebrate those who guided them along the way. We hope you will join us in commemorating the past one hundred years of the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards and joyously anticipating a century more.

Katharine J. Wright
Curator