VIPs, Educators, and Families Gather at Carnegie Hall to Celebrate National Teen Recipients of the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards

NEW YORK, June 8, 2018 /PRNewswire/  Teen artists and writers from across the country were recognized Thursday evening at the world-famous Carnegie Hall in New York City as National Medalists in the 2018 Scholastic Art & Writing Awards-the nation's longest-running and most prestigious recognition program for creative teens, presented by the nonprofit Alliance for Young Artists & Writers. At the National Ceremony, Marc Brown, the Emmy® Award-winning children's author, illustrator, and creator of the children's book and television series Arthur, received the 2018 Alumni Achievement Award, which was presented by R.L. Stine, author of the worldwide bestselling Goosebumps series. Throughout the ceremony, Golden Globe®-nominated actor Ansel Elgort (Baby Driver, The Fault in Our Stars), third poet laureate of Philadelphia Yolanda Wisher, and contemporary artist Jose Parla encouraged students to pursue their innovative visions, and congratulated them for joining the ranks of notable Awards alumni such as Andy Warhol, Truman Capote, Sylvia Plath, Kay WalkingStick, and Stephen King.

For video and photos from the 2018 Scholastic Art & Writing Awards National Ceremony, visit: http://mediaroom.scholastic.com/artandwriting#downloads.

A record-breaking 346,000 works of art and writing were submitted for adjudication at the regional level in the 2018 Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, spanning the program's 29 categories, which include journalism, photography, video game design, poetry, and editorial cartoons. More than 2,800 teens in grades 7-12 from the U.S., Canada, and American schools abroad received national recognition. Sixteen high school seniors received the program's highest national honor-the Gold Medal Portfolio-which includes a $10,000 scholarship. The Alliance annually provides more than $300,000 in scholarships to top Award recipients and continually partners with esteemed colleges and universities to make scholarships available for college-bound National Medalists.

2018 National Ceremony Quotes
Marc Brown, children's author and illustrator who received his Scholastic Award in 1963 for a hand-colored woodcut: "Every child needs one person to believe in them...My high school art teacher who entered that woodcut in the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards really did give me the encouragement I needed. So, after 55 years, tonight I get to thank the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards for finding promise in me. That little Gold Key opened up art school for me and it led me to a job that I love."

Ansel Elgort, Golden Globe®-nominated actor: "You get your happiness from actually doing what you love doing. I never want you to compromise that...Don't allow other people to tell you how to see the world. As artists, we get to see the world through our own eyes, and then make art that has to do with that. That's why, as an artist, you have the ability to become an original and a new thinker. And no matter how wild your ideas are, you have to make them come true. That's how you will be happy."

Virginia McEnerney, Executive Director of the Alliance for Young Artists & Writers: "Over the years, the [Scholastic Art & Writing Awards] program has grown and changed, as the lives of teens have changed. We have different categories and we accept new forms of media, but our fundamental principles remain the same: we are committed to youth voice; we believe that artists play a profound role in transforming their time and shaping the future; and we believe that the process of creation is intrinsically, fundamentally optimistic. We've seen a lot of student art and writing over the years, but this year the work feels different-bolder, braver, more beautiful."

Art.Write.Now.2018 National Exhibition
While in New York City, National Medalists and their families will also have the opportunity to see more than 1,000 of the top Scholastic Art & Writing Awards visual and literary works currently on display as part of the annual Art.Write.Now.2018 National Exhibition. Student works will be visible to the public for free during regular gallery hours through June 10 at Pratt Institute's Pratt Manhattan Gallery and the Sheila C. Johnson Design Center at Parsons School of Design at The New School.

About the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards
Founded in 1923, the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards are presented by the national nonprofit organization the Alliance for Young Artists & Writers and are made possible through the generosity of Scholastic Inc., The Maurice R. Robinson Fund, Command Web Offset Co., The New York Times, New York Life Foundation, The Herb Block Foundation, Blick Art Materials & Utrecht Art Supplies, Golden Artist Colors, Bloomberg Philanthropies, ESA Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, Creative Circle, New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, Amazon Literary Partnerships, and numerous other individual, foundation, and corporate funders; and, for the National Student Poets Program, the Institute of Museum and Library Services and the Poetry Foundation.

For more information about the Alliance for Young Artists & Writers, visit www.artandwriting.org.

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SOURCE Alliance for Young Artists & Writers

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