Last Thursday, the 2020 Scholastic Art & Writing Awards national ceremony, traditionally held at Carnegie Hall, was transformed into a virtual affair to celebrate the national recipients. Chris Colfer, Lena Dunham, and Jennifer Garner headlined the virtual Ceremony to honor the nation’s most talented teen artists and writers.
Jocquelyn Downs, Director of the Arts Council at Baltimore Office of Promotion & The Arts, congratulated students on behalf of all the partner affiliates across the country during the virtual ceremony.
Watch the ceremony below!
Presented by the Alliance for Young Artists & Writers,the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards is the country’s longest-running and most prestigious creative teen recognition program for students in grades 7–12. Baltimore Office of Promotion & The Arts (BOPA) is the regional affiliate for Maryland. In the competition’s almost 100 year history, this is the first time that Maryland has had a regional affiliate. BOPA is proud to take on this effort of supporting the next generation of artists. We received nearly 4000 visual art and writing submissions from teens throughout the state in seventeen counties and Baltimore City.
In March, BOPA gathered at Baltimore Center Stage to celebrate the award recipients of the Maryland Region Scholastic Art & Writing Awards. Hundreds of talented teens from across Maryland attended with their friends and families to be honored for their work. BOPA shared the incredible talent of young Maryland artists with an art exhibition at School 33 Art Center, samples of which you can now explore virtually here. We have also shared samples and selections of Maryland’s young writers, available to read here and here.
About the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards
Founded in 1923, the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards are presented by the 501(c)3 nonprofit organization the Alliance for Young Artists & Writers, and are made possible through the generosity of Scholastic Inc., The Maurice R. Robinson Fund, New York Life Foundation, Command Companies, The New York Times, Blick Art Materials & Utrecht Art Supplies, The Herb Block Foundation, the Salamander Fund of the Triangle Community Foundation, Golden Artist Colors, Bloomberg Philanthropies, National Endowment for the Arts, New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, and numerous other individual, foundation, and corporate funders; and, for the National Student Poets Program, the Institute of Museum and Library Services, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, The Wunderkinder Foundation, the Poetry Foundation, and Academy of American Poets.
For more information about the Alliance for Young Artists & Writers, visit artandwriting.org.