Best of the Best: Meet the 2022 Best-in-Grade Award Winners
by Jean-Paul Bass //
The Best-in-Grade Award, sponsored by Bloomberg Philanthropies, offers $500 scholarships to 24 Gold Medal recipients (two artists and two writers per grades 7–12). These works were determined by our judges to be the best of the best, and we’re proud to announce the talented teens who won this year’s Best-in-Grade Award.
Congratulations to the 2022 Best-in-Grade Award winners!
Grade 7 Isabella Albano, Boulder, CO Ekya Dogra, Edison, NJ Lily Vaughn, Corvallis, OR Xiaohui Zhang, Plainsboro, NJ
Grade 10 Ann Lee, Asheville, NC Audrey Lin, Palos Verdes Peninsula, CA Kaydance Rice, Interlochen, MI Yoga Weng, Ross, CA
Grade 8 Amelia Nuckles, Houston, TX Greta Piette, Riverside, IA Elva Yu, The Woodlands, TX Yuxuan Zhang, Boston, MA
Grade 11 Ava Fong, Princeton, NJ Annelise Hawgood, Cincinnati, OH Shnayjaah Jeanty, Pembroke Pines, FL Orion Yang, Vancouver, BC
Grade 9 Jenny Chen, Portland, OR Sabine Cladis, Barrington, RI Kyungnoh Park, Deerfield, MA Wanqi Zhang, San Jose, CA
Grade 12 Abby Amdur, Interlochen, MI Shelley Demus, Pittsburgh, PA Indigo Mudbhary, San Francisco, CA Wesley Wang, Jericho, NY
Scroll down to see excerpts and images of some of the works that received Best-in-Grade Awards this year!
Isabella Albano, Painted Ladies, Mixed Media. Grade 7, Southern Hills Middle School, Boulder, CO. Best-in-Grade AwardEkya Dogra, Escape to Galileo, Science Fiction & Fantasy. Grade 7, Woodrow Wilson Middle School, Edison, NJ. Best-in-Grade AwardElva Yu, The Lady and the Rose, Painting. Grade 8, McCullough Junior High School, The Woodlands, TX. Best-in-Grade AwardAmelia Nuckles, Smile, Short Story. Grade 8, St. John’s School, Houston, TX. Best-in-Grade AwardKyungnoh Park, Divergence, Painting. Grade 9, Eaglebrook School, Deerfield, MA. Best-in-Grade AwardSabine Cladis, Theirs but to Do or Die, Short Story. Grade 9, Barrington High School, Barrington, RI. Best-in-Grade AwardAudrey Lin, Voice, Comic Art. Grade 10, Chadwick School, Palos Verdes Peninsula, CA. Best-in-GradeYoga Weng, Existence in Present Tense, Personal Essay & Memoir. Grade 10, The Branson School, Ross, CA. Best-in-Grade AwardOrion Yang, Garden of Eden, Sculpture. Grade 11, Point Grey Secondary School, Vancouver, BC. Best-in-Grade AwardAnnelise Hawgood, The Feminine Commodity Trumps Life and Liberty in “A Mercy”, Critical Essay. Grade 11, Seven Hills School, Cincinnati, OH. Best-in-Grade AwardAddy Amdur, Secluded, Printmaking. Grade 12, Interlochen Arts Academy, Interlochen, MI. Best-in-Grade AwardIndigo Mudbhary, We Regret to Inform You, Short Story. Grade 12, Lick-Wilmerding High School, San Francisco, CA. Best-in-Grade Award
