The Scholastic Art & Writing Awards began as a small writing contest with a $5 prize and six winning applicants in 1923. Today, more than 90,000 teens in grades 7 through 12 from around the nation annually submit more than 185,000 works of art and writing in 28 categories. Winning students earn opportunities for recognition, exhibition, publication and scholarships.

The Awards, now presented by the nonprofit Alliance for Young Artists & Writers, not only celebrate the rich future of artistic America, but also document its past. The program has been credited with identifying early talent in generations of America’s cultural icons, including Truman Capote (1932), Richard Avedon (1941), Andy Warhol (ca. 1945), Sylvia Plath (1947), Robert Redford (1954) and Zac Posen (1998), each of whom won the award when they were in high school.

Student works are evaluated by industry leaders and exhibited in New York City venues as well as cities across the country through the traveling exhibit, ART.WRITE.NOW. These exhibitions give audiences the opportunity to see the work of the nation’s top young artists and writers, inspiring appreciation for the teens’ maturity, talent and originality. For most young winners, this recognition is their first experience of being identified as serious artists and writers, and the impact on their self-perception can be life-changing. Richard Avedon called winning his Scholastic Award, “the defining moment of my life.”

The OHHS Art Department would like to congratulate the following students on their awards for the 2015 competition:

Honorable Mention
Katie Carter
Kelly Cline
Katelyn Evans
Lydia Futrell
Rylan Hixson
Taylor McDonald
Haley Roberts
Jasmine Shepherd
Vivien Smith
Lauren Sprague
Alaina Vinson
Jessica Wagner

Silver Key

Kelly Cline
Kaitlyn Clinkenbeard
Taylor Helms (2)
Diana Rosing
Marissa Ryan
Sophia Schmackers
Alyssa Weber (2)

Gold Key

Lauren Brown
Leah Bushman
Kelly Cline
Taylor Helms
Rylan Hixson
Marissa Ryan
Vivien Smith
Lulu Thornton

Portfolio Award

Kelly Cline

American Visions Nominee

Rylan Hixson

Information about the Regional Exhibition and Awards are listed below. Be sure the work of these very talented students and cheer the Portfolio Award and American Visions Nominees on to the next level!  Preview some of the works below.

Exhibition Opens: January 23rd from 6-9 pm at the Art Academy of Cincinnati
January 23rd- February 6th / Exhibition Run

Gallery Hours (after opening night)
Saturdays & Sundays (noon to 3 pm)
Monday – Friday (9 to noon & 4 to 7 pm)
(Last Friday – 5-10pm)

Awards Night Presentation:
January 30th; Exhibition hours 9 – noon & 5 – 10pm
Northern Kentucky Convention Center (Covington)
Grades 7-8 will be recognized at 6pm
Grades 9-10 will be recognized at 7pm
Grades 11-12 will be recognized at 8pm

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Local students artists are invited to submit original artwork to be used to promote Cincinnati Nature Center’s spring fundraising gala, Back to Nature 2015.  This event combines nature and art in a festive evening that features prominent Cincinnati area artists.  The winning artist will be invited to attend the event, sell artwork in the silent auction, and enjoy the food the festivities of the evening.  In addition, the artist will be featured in a press release and picked up by the local media.

This year’s theme is “Let’s Wing It”!  Good luck to Sydney Montgomery with her Monarch Butterfly entry!

Hamilton County Reflections Winners.  Congrats to the following OH students for received the following awards in the Hamilton County Reflections contest.

Visual Arts:

1st place – Kelly Cline
2nd place – Brianna Visbal
3rd place – Vivien Smith
Honorable Mention – Kaitlyn Kellard
Honorable Mention – Zoe Orlet
Honorable Mention- Rachel Lincoln

Photography:

1st – Lauren Sprague
2nd – Brittany Oldfield
The top 3 winning entries are now moving onto the State Levels

On December 1st, over 250 Art Foundations students came together to create a large scale, collaborative, mural.  In addition to raising awareness about the AIDS pandemic, students were encourage to use the power of art, influenced by the style of artist Keith Haring, to voice their positions on social and global issues as a means of educating the public and instituting change.  The mural, and the students’ accompanying small artworks, will be on display at OHHS through January 2015.  Some of the final images can be browsed below.

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National PTA Reflections  was developed as a way to encourage students to explore their talents and express themselves. The Reflections Program has inspired millions of students to reflect on a specific theme and create original artwork.  Each year, students in Grades Pre-K through 12 are recognized for bringing the theme to life through film production, dance choreography, literature, music composition, photography, and visual arts. The 2014-2015 Reflections program theme is “The world would be a better place…”

Best of luck to the following students who submitted work for this year’s competition and stay tuned for results!