More Than $8 Million in Scholarships for the Nation's Most Creative Teens through the 2013 Scholastic Art & Writing Awards

NEW YORK, March 19, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- The Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, the country's longest-running and most prestigious award and recognition program for creative teenagers, today announced its 2013 National Award recipients. Fifteen high school seniors were honored with a Portfolio Gold Award, the highest level of achievement, which includes a $10,000 cash scholarship. The graduating seniors who received national Awards are now eligible for more than $8 million in scholarships from more than 60 colleges, universities and art institutes across the country; other student medalists won cash awards for "Best in Grade" and other special designations.

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More than 1,600 of the most talented and ambitious students in grades 7-12, representing 47 U.S. states, as well as students in Washington, DC and American schools abroad, were chosen to receive national medals. Students' works were blindly adjudicated, 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 arts professionals. This year's list of jurors included Edwidge Danticat, Myla Goldberg, Kurt Andersen, Althea Harper, Red Grooms, and Andres Serrano. Works were judged on originality, technical skill, and the emergence of personal vision or voice. Teachers of national winners were also recognized with awards.

2013 marks the 90^th anniversary of the Awards, and this year's program attracted more participants than ever before. More than 230,000 submissions were received in 28 categories, including dramatic script, journalism, humor, novel-writing, science-fiction, as well as painting, sculpture, photography, fashion design, film and animation, and video game design, among others.

Recipients of the 2013 Portfolio Gold Medals are: Luisa Banchoff, Arlington, VA; Leah Bydalek, Houston, TX; Christian Caraballo, Jersey City, NJ; Janay Alexandrea Crane, Walkerton, IN; Anthony DeSantis, Greenville, SC; Greg Dugdale, Carmel, IN; Isabella Giovannini, New York, NY; Katiuscia Gregoire, Miami Beach, FL; Patrick Hulse, Fairfax Station, VA; Kathleen Radigan, North Kingstown, RI; Alex Reynolds, Solon, OH; Samuel Root, Quarryville, PA; Emilie Sommers, Albuquerque, NM; Samantha West, Boise, ID; and Anna Xie, Boston, MA. A complete list of winners is available here.

"This 90^th year of the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards demonstrates just how vital the program is to America's creative young people," said Virginia McEnerney, Executive Director of the Alliance for Young Artists & Writers. "We received more entries than ever before, and the depth of talent from all across the country is astounding. In some cases, an Award and its attendant scholarships can make the difference between whether or not a young writer or artist attends college. We are privileged to provide recognition and assistance to these deserving young people, and to celebrate the importance of arts education in American cultural life."

This year's National Celebration will kick off in New York City on May 31 when the LED super signs at 1515 Broadway in Times Square will feature the Awards throughout the day.  That evening, national winners will be honored onstage at a special ceremony at the world-famous Carnegie Hall.  In addition, for the first time ever, in celebration of the 90^th Anniversary, the ceremony will be webcast live from Carnegie Hall. Select Award-winning art and writing will be exhibited at Parsons The New School for Design and the Pratt Manhattan Gallery through June 15, 2013. The exhibition and accompanying public programs are co-sponsored by the Sheila C. Johnson Design Center at Parsons The New School for Design.

Alumni of the Scholastic Awards have gone on to continue their education at many of the top colleges and universities across the country, including Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA), School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), the School of Visual Arts, Parsons The New School for Design, Carnegie Mellon University and Columbia University. Distinguished alumni include Andy Warhol, Ken Burns, Robert Redford, Richard Avedon, Zac Posen, Joyce Carol Oates, Lena Dunham, Cy Twombly, John Baldessari, John Updike, Sylvia Plath, Truman Capote, Stephen King and Red Grooms.

The Scholastic Art & Writing Awards is generously supported by Scholastic Inc., the Maurice R. Robinson Fund, The New York Times, the Institute for Museum and Library Services, the President's Committee on the Arts and the Humanities, Command Web Offset Co., the AMD Foundation, Blick Art Materials, the National Endowment for the Arts, 3D Systems, New York Life, Bloomberg L.P., Ovation, Amazon.com, the Jacques and Natasha Gelman Trust, the Bernstein Family Foundation, Duck Tape^®, the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, and contributions from numerous other individual, foundation, and corporate funders.

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The Alliance for Young Artists & Writers, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, identifies teenagers with exceptional artistic and literary talent and brings their remarkable work to a national audience through the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards. Founded in 1923, the Awards program is the longest-running, most prestigious program of its kind, having fostered the creativity and talent of millions of students through recognition, exhibitions and publications. Over the past five years, students have submitted 920,000 works of art and writing) and over $40 million has been made available in scholarships and awards to top winning participants. The Alliance partners with 116 regional affiliates across the country to bring the program to local communities, and works with a network of more than 60 colleges and universities to increase scholarship and award opportunities. With the President's Committee on the Arts and the Humanities and the Institute of Museum and Library Services, the Alliance is a founding partner of the National Student Poets Program, the country's highest honor for youth poets, which selects five students exclusively from current Scholastic Art & Writing Award national poetry winners. More information about the Alliance and its programs can be found at www.artandwriting.org.

SOURCE Scholastic Inc.