FARGO, ND —The Red River Valley Writing Project at NDSU and Plains Art Museum have announced the regional award recipients of the 2019 Scholastic Art & Writing Awards. Presented by the nonprofit organization the Alliance for Young Artists & Writers, the 96th Scholastic Art & Writing Awards are the country’s longest-running and most prestigious scholarship and recognition program for creative students in grades 7–12. This year, over 350,000 works of art and writing were submitted to more than 100 Affiliate Partners across the country. In North Dakota, 417 works were submitted, and 118 received regional honors, which include Gold Keys, Silver Keys, Honorable Mentions, or American Visions & Voices.
Flash Fiction:
Peyton Blotsky, Watford City
Journalism:
Abigail Brooks, Fargo
Novel:
Sumaiyah Alyadumi, Watford City
Personal Essay/Memoir:
Megan Ausk, Kindred
Mattea Johnson, Kindred
Manisha Karki, Fargo
Annelise Klein, Bismarck
Anna Stoppleworth, Kindred
Poetry:
Therese Byankuba, Fargo
Srinath Kandooru, Bismarck
Sunni Parisien, Belcourt
Science Fiction/Fantasy:
Samuel Tschaekofske, Bismarck
Mason Wilmer, Park River
Short Story:
Olivia Drake, Fargo
Jacob Frisinger, Bismarck
This year’s Gold Key winners in Art are:
Drawing and Illustration:
Deanna Rose (2 awards), Grand Forks
Comic Art:
Jennifer Chao, Fargo
Painting:
Fischer Ackerson, Sherwood
Yuki Coyle, Fargo
Deanna Rose, Grand Forks
Photography:
Jakob Bloomquist, Tower City
Ryley Dahl, Fargo
Olivia Propeck (2 awards), Fargo
Sculpture:
Eva Sobak, Fairdale
Museum’s Starion Gallery from February 2-March 9th.
The state ceremony will take place on Saturday, March 9th from 5:30-8pm at Plains Art Museum in Fargo. All students, educators, judges, families, and friends are invited to attend. The winners of North Dakota State University’s new scholarships in art and writing will also be announced at the ceremony.
All Gold Key winners are forwarded to New York City for national adjudication. The national winners will be announced on March 12, 2019.
Since the program’s founding in 1923, the Awards have fostered the creativity and talent of millions of students, including renowned alumni who have gone on to become leaders in their fields, including Andy Warhol, Truman Capote, Richard Avedon, Philip Pearlstein, and Sylvia Plath. More recently, Stephen King, Richard Linklater, Zac Posen, andLena Dunham received Scholastic Art & Writing Awards when they were teens. Locally, Laura Youngbird, Director of Native American Art at Plains Art Museum, was a Scholastic teen award winner.
For Gold Key works of art and writing in the Awards’ 29 categories, including architecture, painting, flash fiction, poetry, printmaking, video game design, and more, the opportunities for recognition will continue when the works are adjudicated again on a national level by a panel of leading creative professionals. National Gold Medalists will be announced March 12, 2019 and will be honored during a special awards ceremony at the world-famous Carnegie Hall in New York City in June 2019. All National Medalists are eligible for a wealth of additional opportunities such as inclusion in the Art.Write.Now.Tour traveling exhibition and The Best Teen Writing anthology. National Medalist poets are considered for the National Student Poets Program, the nation’s highest honor for young poets presenting original work.
A complete list of 2019 regional Gold Key Scholastic Art & Writing Awards recipients is available online at artandwriting.org.
Quotes
As NDSU Associate Professor Kelly Sassi explains, “When we stepped up to serve as state affiliate for the awards in 2014, there were only 20 entries from the state of North Dakota. By publicizing the awards to every school in the state, participation increased exponentially to 120, then 200, then 300, and this year to 417 total submissions. The number of national awards has also increased from zero to one to three to six.” For Sassi, as Director of the Red River Valley Writing Project, accessibility is a driving concern. “Every teen in North Dakota, from Belcourt to Beulah, from Williston to Wahpeton,” she says, “deserves a chance to be recognized for creative talent in writing and art. Our summer workshops support both teachers and students in honing their skills.”
“We have an amazing network of Affiliate Partners who bring the program to life by recognizing and encouraging creative teens across America,” said Virginia McEnerney, Executive Director of the Alliance for Young Artists & Writers. “Over the course of the program’s nearly century-long history, we’ve learned that this recognition can be life changing. For many creative teens, their regional Scholastic Award leads to recognition at the national level, where opportunities for exhibition, publication, and millions of dollars in scholarships await those who receive top honors.”
Sponsors
The Alliance is grateful for its generous sponsors, who provide funds to support and produce the Scholastic Awards at the national level, including: Scholastic Inc., The Maurice R. Robinson Fund, Command Web Offset Co., The New York Times, the New York Life Foundation, The Herb Block Foundation, Blick Art Materials & Utrect Art Supplies, Golden Artist Colors, the Garcia Family Foundation, Bloomberg Philanthropies, the ESA Foundation, the Jacques and Natasha Gelman Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, Creative Circle, the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, and Amazon Literary Partnership; the National Student Poets Program, the Institute of Museum and Library Services, the Poetry Foundation, and the Academy of American Poets.
For more information about the Alliance for Young Artists & Writers and the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, visit the Scholastic News Room: http://mediaroom.scholastic.com/artandwriting.
