The Scholastic Art & Writing Awards of 2005 National Student Art Exhibition

An exhibit of award-winning artwork from The Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, a national program offering early recognition for creative teenagers and providing scholarship opportunities for graduating high-school seniors, is on view at the Corcoran Gallery of Art from June 17 through August 8, 2005. Representing 14 visual arts categories, including painting, sculpture, graphic design, and electronic media, The Scholastic Art & Writing Awards National Student Art Exhibition of 2005 features 298 pieces of student work, chosen from more than 200,000 works of art submitted by students in grades 7-12 nationwide.

Each year, The Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, administered by the Alliance for Young Artists & Writers, a non-profit organization, receive more than 250,000 works of art & writing, submitted through 90 regional affiliate programs across the nation. The entries are evaluated locally and nationally by panels of jurors comprised of renowned artists, authors, educators and arts professionals. This year, 12 high-school seniors from around the country were honored with the National Portfolio Gold Award, the highest level of achievement, and will each receive a $10,000 cash award. An additional $1.5 million in tuition scholarships is made available to students, both regionally and nationally, through a network of colleges who partner with the Awards.

Since the program’s inception in 1923, more than 13 million of America’s most talented junior high and high school students (grades 7-12) have participated in The Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, and 2.5 million have been recognized and shared in more than $25 million in cash awards and college scholarships.

The Scholastic Art & Writing Awards have recognized the talents of promising young Americans who have gone on to become some of our nation’s most celebrated artists and writers, including Truman Capote, Joyce Carol Oates, Philip Pearlstein, Sylvia Plath, Robert Redford and Andy Warhol.

ABOUT THE SCHOLASTIC ART & WRITING AWARDS
M.R. Robinson, the founder of Scholastic Inc., established The Scholastic Art & Writing Awards in 1923, and the company continues to be the program’s largest corporate sponsor. The Alliance brings outstanding visual art and writing created by teenagers to a national audience by showcasing their remarkable work and encouraging their creative journey and career development. In addition to awarding annual scholarships to top portfolio award recipients, the Alliance collaborates with colleges across the country that make an additional $1.5 million in financial aid available to award recipients with exceptional promise.

The Awards program and the work of the Alliance are made possible through the lead support of SCHOLASTIC Inc. Generous leadership support is also provided by The Maurice R. Robinson Fund and The Jacques and Natasha Gelman Trust. Presenting Sponsors are The New York Times Company, Accenture, JPMorgan Chase, Command Web Offset and The Diller-von Furstenberg Family Foundation.

The President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities is honored to help fund The Scholastic Art & Writing Awards National Student Art Exhibition of 2005 with assistance from the National Endowment for the Arts and Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation.