2023 Scholastic Art and Writing Awards open to NorCal students

Michaela Harris, Appeal-Democrat, Marysville, Calif.
·3 min read

Dec. 3—Yuba Sutter Arts & Culture is serving as a regional partner for the Alliance for Young Artists and Writers to gather submissions for the 2023 Scholastic Arts and Writing Awards.

Established in 1923 to showcase original work created by young writers, the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards has become an avenue for emerging artists to gain national recognition for their work.

Students in grades 7-12 are given the opportunity to showcase written or visual art on a regional and national level. Shawntay Arroyo, arts in education coordinator for Yuba Sutter Arts & Culture, is monitoring submissions for the Northern California region, covering Yuba, Sutter, Colusa, Nevada, Placer, Yolo and Sierra counties.

After compiling the entries, Arroyo and a diverse panel of judges will review each piece and make nominations for award placements.

"All of the judges across the board come from completely different walks of life," Arroyo said.

This is to help highlight the various backgrounds, ethnicities and experiences reflected in each entry, she said. However, according to the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards website, submissions are judged without knowledge of the student's gender, age, ethnicity or hometown.

"Winning pieces are selected through blind adjudication. The art is judged completely on its own merit," Arroyo said.

At the regional level, the Scholastic Art and Writing awardees are nominated under Gold Key Awards, Silver key Awards and honorable mentions. Multiple students will be recognized under each award, Arroyo said.

Those selected for Gold Key Awards are automatically considered for other national awards, including medals and scholarships, officials said. Each region will also nominate the top five Gold Key recipients for American Voices and American Vision awards, which are given to writers and artists respectively. From there, national jurors will select one regional nominee for each award.

As of Friday, around 50 entries have been submitted for the Northern California region, but Arroyo anticipates more in the near future. The amount of submissions has varied over the years, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic when students had more time to be creative during lockdown, she said.

Simply entering their work for the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards qualifies students for several scholarships, Arroyo said.

Students can submit any type of visual or written work for the awards as long as they are original creations. Arroyo said that pieces inspired by other works are permitted as long as there is a clear element of originality.

"It's all about submitting something that's original to you. You can tell by looking at a work of art how much of your voice or vision was put into it," she said. "Creating a piece is about finding and curating with intentionality."

The deadline to submit visual art work under the Northern California region is Dec. 10 by 9 p.m., and the deadline for written works is Jan. 5, 2023.

Students can submit their work for the 2023 Scholastic Art and Writing Awards by creating an account on www.artandwriting.org, where they can upload a photo of their visual piece or a PDF file of their written work, Arroyo said. Submission forms are also available on the website.

A $10 entry fee is required for each individual submission, and a $30 fee is required for each portfolio. However, fee waivers are available on the website and may be submitted alongside entry forms. Entry forms received without payment or the fee waiver form will be considered incomplete and may be disqualified, officials said.