The Asheville Art Museum is thrilled to congratulate three Western North Carolina high school art students on their receipt of prestigious national awards that recognize their outstanding talent.
The nonprofit Alliance for Young Artists & Writers recently announced the national award recipients for the 2018 National Scholastic Art & Writing awards, the nation’s longest-running and most prestigious recognition program for creative teens in grades 7–12. This year a record-breaking 350,000 works of art and writing were submitted for adjudication from regional affiliates. All student submissions to the National Scholastic Art & Writing Awards are judged based on the program’s three criteria: originality, technical skill and emergence of a personal vision or voice.
The WNC recipients of the 2018 National Scholastic Art Awards are:
Genevieve Beatty – Gold Medal & American Visions Medal for Six Yards of White Silk Transformed into a Hand Painted Dragon Couture Gown, Fashion category, 10th Grade, Carolina Day School, Art Teacher Marbie Kollath
Silas Chu – Gold Medal for The Coffee Shop at the Center of the Universe with special guest Salmon Jim, Drawing & Illustration category, 11th Grade, Asheville Christian Academy, Art Teacher Jennifer Lipsey Edwards
Mckayla Singleton – Silver Medal for Tourist Trap, Film & Animation category, 12th Grade, Smoky Mountain High School, Art Teacher Autumn Hall
Student works are first adjudicated regionally through the more than 100 local Affiliates of the Alliance. The Asheville Art Museum, with support from the Asheville Area Section of the American Institute of Architects, is the Regional Art Affiliate of the National Scholastic Art & Writing Awards. This ongoing community partnership has supported the creative talents of WNC youth for 38 years. The WNC regional competition is open to students in grades 7-12 across 20 counties. The Museum first recognized its 256 WNC regional award recipients in January and February with an exhibition and awards ceremony as part of the 2018 Regional Scholastic Art Awards. The 37 works that received Regional Gold Keys were then sent to the National Scholastic Art competition. Regional Gold Key works are then judged nationally by an impressive panel of creative-industry experts to receive Gold, Silver, American Visions & Voices, Portfolio Silver with Distinction or Portfolio Gold Medals.
Erin Shope, Manager of School & Family Programs of the Asheville Art Museum, echoes these sentiments. “It is our privilege to share in these moments of achievement for our area students and to support them on their journey to becoming creative adults by elevating their talents on a regional and national level.”
Of the three area students recognized at the National Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, two of them, Genevieve Beatty and Silas Chu, will be invited to the National Ceremony at Carnegie Hall in June. The Gold Portfolio, Gold Medal, and Silver Medal with Distinction students across the nation will be honored there with appearances by notable celebrities and creative leaders.