2015 YoungArts Winners Announced - Over 700 Students from Across the Country!

Today, the National YoungArts Foundation (YoungArts) announces its 2015 YoungArts Winners. Out of more than 11,000 applications, 786 young artists from 46 states are being recognized for their outstanding work and accomplishments in one of ten disciplines across the literary, visual, design and performing arts. All Winners will have the opportunity to participate in YoungArts programs designed to support young artists at critical junctures in their careers and to encourage them to pursue a life in the arts. A complete list of the Winners is available online here: http://www.youngarts.org/our-program.

"I congratulate all 786 Winners and look forward to welcoming the Finalists to our campus in January and getting to know this vibrant and passionate group of artists during National YoungArts Week," stated Paul T. Lehr, President & CEO of the National YoungArts Foundation. "These are our nation's next big names, from Hollywood to Broadway, from museum walls to fashion runways, and I always look forward to seeing where all of our Winners end up."

YoungArts Winners are designated into three categories-Finalist, Honorable Mention and Merit-and are selected through a blind adjudication process. Some Winners are awarded for excellence in more than one discipline. 2015 Finalists have the opportunity to participate in the 34th annual National YoungArts Week, which takes place in Miami from January 4 to 11, 2015, and all 2015 Winners are eligible to participate in YoungArts' regional programs - YoungArts Los Angeles (February 17-22, 2015), YoungArts Miami (March 10-15, 2015), and YoungArts New York (April 27 - May 3, 2015) - space permitting.

All Winners become part of the YoungArts alumni network of more than 20,000 artists, many of whom have gone on to become leading professionals in their fields, including visual artists Doug Aitken and Daniel Arsham; musicians Terrence Blanchard and Jennifer Koh; filmmaker Doug Blush; recording artists Josh Groban and Chris Young; writers Jenji Kohan and Sam Lipsyte; actors Viola Davis, Andrew Rannells and Kerry Washington; renowned choreographer Desmond Richardson; and recent So You Think You Can Dance winner Ricky Ubeda. YoungArts supports its alumni in a number of ways, such as providing them with opportunities to participate in national programs, local events and the three-time Emmy-nominated HBO Family Documentary Special, YoungArts MasterClass; seeking ways to promote their artistic ideas and projects; and establishing connections for them with YoungArts' partners around the country, including the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Winners are also eligible to become U.S. Presidential Scholars in the Arts, as YoungArts is the exclusive nominating agency for this high honor for artistically talented graduating high school seniors. Every year, YoungArts nominates 60 YoungArts Winners to the White House-appointed Commission on Presidential Scholars, 20 of whom are then selected to become U.S. Presidential Scholars in the Arts.

Of the 786 Winners, approximately 170 Finalists from across the nation will come together for National YoungArts Week. During National YoungArts Week, Finalists will participate in a week of intense master classes and workshops with internationally renowned artists. Past Master Teachers include Debbie Allen, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Plácido Domingo, Frank Gehry, Bobby McFerrin, Robert Redford, James Rosenquist, Marisa Tomei and Bruce Weber, to name a few. Throughout the week, Finalist's work will be further adjudicated to determine additional award levels including a monetary award of up to $10,000. Students will also have the opportunity to share their work with the public through performances and exhibitions at New World Center and on the YoungArts campus. For more information, or to purchase tickets, visit www.youngarts.org/youngarts-week.

YoungArts Week is supported by our National Premier Sponsor Carnival Foundation; the 2015 YoungArts Week Performance Sponsor SunTrust; as well as Aon; James Royal Palm Hotel; Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs and the Cultural Affairs Council, the Miami-Dade County Mayor and Board of County Commissioners; the Miami Herald; MIAMI Magazine; and the State of Florida, Department of State, Division of Cultural Affairs and the Florida Council on Arts and Culture.

In celebration of the 2015 YoungArts Winners, the YoungArts Backyard Ball Performance and Gala will be held on the YoungArts campus for the second time on Saturday, January 10, 2015. Co-chaired by Bruce and Tracey Berkowitz and Elizabeth and Facundo Bacardi, the evening will feature an alumni performance directed by Tony Award-winning dancer, choreographer and YoungArts Artistic Advisor Bill T. Jones, and emceed by actress and YoungArts Alumna Zuzanna Szadkowski (1997 Winner in Theater and U.S. Presidential Scholar in the Arts). For more information, or to purchase tickets, visit: www.youngarts.org/gala.

About the National YoungArts Foundation - The National YoungArts Foundation (YoungArts) was established in 1981 by Lin and Ted Arison to identify and nurture the next generation of artists in the literary, performing, visual and design arts, and to contribute to the cultural vitality of the nation by supporting the artistic development of talented young artists. Each year, YoungArts receives approximately 11,000 applications from 15-18 year old (or grades 10-12) artists. From this pool, approximately 700 winners are selected and are eligible to participate in YoungArts programs in Miami, New York and Los Angeles.

YoungArts provides these emerging artists with life-changing experiences and validation by renowned mentors, access to significant scholarships, national recognition and other opportunities throughout their careers to help ensure that the nation's most outstanding emerging artists are encouraged to pursue careers in the arts. To date, YoungArts has honored more than 20,000 alumni, including Doug Aitken, Josh Groban, Jenji Kohan, Desmond Richardson, and Kerry Washington with over $6 million in monetary awards; facilitated in excess of $150 million in college scholarship opportunities; and enabled its participants to work with master teachers who are among the most distinguished artists in the world, such as Marina Abramovi?, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Plácido Domingo, Zaha Hadid, Robert Redford and Bruce Weber.

YoungArts is working with world-renowned architect and YoungArts Artistic Advisor Frank Gehry to transform the former Bacardi Tower and Museum buildings and three-and-a-half acre campus into its national headquarters, which will support expanded local activities in Miami and across the country. The new campus will feature a Gehry-designed performing arts center and park with state-of-the-art sound and video capabilities. Since opening the campus for programming in November 2013, YoungArts has debuted the European classical music phenomenon Yellow Lounge in partnership with Universal Music; held salons with Marina Abramovi?, Robert Redford, Justin Peck & Sufjan Stevens, Joshua Bell, and Ben Folds; hosted Olafur Eliasson and his Little Sun installation in partnership with MoMA PS1 and Fondation Beyeler; held master classes for local music students with jazz icon Wynton Marsalis and opera star Plácido Domingo; produced an interdisciplinary performance on the campus with Robert Redford and Sibylle Szaggars Redford, Living Colour's Will Calhoun, and YoungArts alumni Dave Eggar and Desmond Richardson; and premiered HBO's Joshua Bell: A YoungArts MasterClass.

For more information, visit youngarts.org, facebook.com/YoungArtsFoundation or twitter.com/YoungArts. To watch a brief video about YoungArts, click here.