Gold Key winners from across the region on display at Cal U. exhibit
C.R. Nelson/For the Observer-Reporter
Joy Heisey of Mt. Morris poses with her artwork as part of the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards regional program. The Central Greene student’s piece will be among the artwork displayed at Manderino Library on the campus of California University of Pennsylvania through Feb. 17.
Peters Township High School senior Raeanne Heuler won a Gold Key award for her depiction of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg that uses colorful hole punches to create the artwork.
Elijah Porbin, a junior at Avella High School, won seven Gold Key awards for photographs he entered in the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards regional program this year. His work includes many of his photos he took while traveling in Europe, where he visited World War II concentration camps and the accompanying memorials to the Holocaust.
Various artwork will be on display at Manderino Library on the campus of California University of Pennsylvania through Feb. 17
The regional Scholastic Art and Writing Awards exhibit at California University of Pennsylvania Library offers a great opportunity to be wowed by the talents of students from across the region.
For 17 years now, area students from seventh grade to high school seniors have been given the chance to be their creative best and compete for district and national awards, thanks to the efforts of volunteer parents and educators who helped establish the completion for this corner of the state.
What started as a small writing contest with six submissions for a $5 prize in 1923 has grown into the national Scholastic Art and Writing Awards that now receives more than 300,000 submissions annually from across America. In its years of challenging students to express their creative selves, some winners have gone on to become household names – Andy Warhol, Robert Redford and Truman Capote, to name a few.
More than 60 art institutes and colleges have partnered with Scholastic to give $40 million worth of scholarships and financial aid to regional and national winners.
This year’s participation in the district was up by more than 100 entries, with a total of 433 individual works and nine senior portfolios entered, Scholastic regional board member Mike Boyles said. They awarded 45 Gold Key, 43 Silver Key, and 105 Honorable Mention to the artists for 2019, along with six senior portfolios, he said.
Young authors submitted 199 individual pieces of writing and had two seniors receive Gold portfolio awards, with 21 Gold Key, 44 Silver Key and 69 Honorable Mention works chosen for the exhibit.
Judges note that some students take an exceptional number of top honors. Elijah Porban, a junior at Avella High School received seven Gold Key Awards for photography. Many of his images are from his travel to Europe where he visited, among other things, World War II concentration camps and memorials to the Holocaust.
All Gold Key winners, including those chosen for the added distinction of American Vision and American Voice awards will be forwarded digitally to the National Scholastic Competition and winners will be announced March 12 and the works will be exhibited June 6 in New York City.
The district exhibit runs until Feb. 17 with the artwork on display at Cal U’s Manderino Library, with an awards ceremony at 2 p.m. on the final day to end the show. Gold Key winners will then be invited to be on display at the Washington Citizens Library in Washington starting on Feb. 19, and the exhibit will run for two weeks.
American Visions Award winners
Bailey Gammon
Body and Soul of Andy Warhol? – Fashion
Uniontown Area High School
Age: 14 Grade: 9
Joy Heisey
Poky Dot – Drawing and Illustration
Waynesburg Central High School
Age: 15 Grade: 10
Raeanne Heuler
I Dissent? – Mixed Media
Peters Township High School
Age: 18 Grade: 12
Jenna Ronto
Rylie – Painting
Lincoln Park Performing Arts Charter School (But is from Washington)
Age: 18 Grade: 12
Jenna Sargent
Bird watching – Drawing and Illustration
Ringgold High School
Age: 16 Grade: 11
American Voice Award winners
Catherine Thompson
Garden Weeds – Memoir
Waynesburg Central High School
Age: 17 Grade: 12
Emma Malinak
Is That Too Much To Ask? – Poetry
Trinity Area High School
Age: 15 Grade: 10
Amanda Cooke
Utopian – Science Fiction
Charleroi Area High School
Age: 17 Grade: 11
Lilianna Hug
Saving the Boundary Waters – Critical Essay
Home Schooled
Age: 14 Grade: 9
Alex Chovan
Not a Second too Late – Short Story
Belle Vernon Middle School
Age: 14 Grade: 8