Tens of thousands of young artists and writers—along with their support system of educators, parents, and guardians—put countless time and effort into the 2022 Scholastic Art & Writing Awards. Hundreds of talented jurors from across the country—including educators, artists, published authors, and so many more—spent the winter reviewing and appreciating every piece entered to the Awards. And now, we are ready to celebrate the fruits of that labor . . .
Congratulations to every young person who elected to share their creativity and voice with the Scholastic Awards this year—that alone is a huge accomplishment, and we thank you for sharing your work with us.
Remote programs jurors joined us from partner organizations around the country to take on the challenging task of choosing which of the incredible submissions would receive an Honorable Mention, Silver Key, or Gold Key Awards. Thank you to all of our jurors for your thoughtfulness and dedication to this year’s Awards. We can’t do this work without you!
To all of our remote programs winners, congratulations again! This is a huge achievement, and we are delighted that we had the privilege of recognizing your incredible talent. We wish the best for all of our remote programs Gold Key and American Voices & Visions Nominees whose pieces will be considered for awards at the national level. We couldn’t be prouder to have you representing our remote programs community to the nation!
What Did Jurors Have to Say?
Tips for Future Submissions
Writing Tips
- Works that utilize both beautiful writing and description and strong thematic elements or commentary often stand out the most.
- Writing often thrives on feeling and rhythm—using big words without cause sometimes distracts from the story more than it enhances.
- If you are considering translating all or some of your words to another language, think about how the cultural and linguistic traditions you’re drawing on may change or enrich the meaning of your piece.
- Be careful not to hurry the ending and drop your reader too suddenly—we want to follow your story and understand all the way through. Try having someone else read your work aloud to you before you decide whether or not it is complete.
Art Tips
- Carefully read the category descriptions to ensure your artwork is judged in the correct category. While there are sometimes gray areas between categories, take the time to consider where your work fits best. Judging artwork that has been put into the wrong category is difficult, as they are out of context. For example, there was a significant amount of wrong category submissions in the Architecture & Industrial Design category as well as the Mixed Media category. Many mixed media pieces were, in fact, paintings.
- Take care to make sure the picture(s) of your work are clear, focused, and high quality; crop the image if necessary. It is difficult to judge works if we aren’t able to see the art very well.
- Clearly list ALL materials you used to create the artwork. If the image includes display objects, it would be helpful to jurors for them to be listed in materials (e.g., in a brown wooden frame, displayed on white shelf, etc.).
Portfolio Tips
- For seniors submitting portfolios, artist statements provide vital context to the work, as well as inform jurors of your artistic process, all which helps to make your work stand out. Simple and brief, yet powerful artist statements tend to fair better than lengthy statements where lots of explaining is required to make sense of the piece.
- In the end, what matters most is that the work displays a strong sense of originality, personality, and vision.
Celebrating Our Remote Program’s American Voices & Visions Nominees!
Every year, each remote program region selects five students as American Voices & Visions Nominees. These works are carefully selected as the most standout pieces in the region. All nominees will be considered at the national level for an American Voices & Visions Medal. The final medalists will be honored in a star-studded National Ceremony!
Below are just a few of the amazing works from our remote programs that are being considered for an American Voices & Visions Medal. Congratulations, and good luck to all of our nominees!
Previewing Our American Visions Nominees
KIMELY LI, Tenderness, Drawing & Illustration. Grade 11, Indian Springs School, Pelham, AL. Clayton Colvin, Educator 
JOSUE SANCHEZ, Carne Asada, Photography. Grade 9, Thelma R. Salinas STEM Early College High School, La Joya, TX. Esli Galvan, Educator 
ORION YANG, Garden of Eden, Sculpture. Grade 11, Point Grey Secondary School, Vancouver, BC. Vals Liu, Educator 
EDDIE HILL, Afraid, Mixed Media. Grade 10, Pleasant Grove High School, Texarkana, TX. Melissa Manning, Educator
Previewing our American Voices Nominees
SALOME AGBAROJI, Two Worlds. Two Women. Fall Apart, Poetry. Grade 11, Richard Gahr High School, Cerritos, CA. Mason Granger, Educator 
QUINN KENNEDY, Sister and Brother, Short Story. Grade 10, Wheeler School, Providence, RI. Annie Funnell, Educator 
MAX GRINSTEIN, The Angolite: How the First and Only Uncensored Prison Newspaper Was the Key to Understanding Life Behind Bars, Critical Essay. Grade 10, Davidson Academy, Reno, NV. Rebecca Coleman, Educator 
NATALIA LOPEZ, How I Lost My Voice, Personal Essay & Memoir. Grade 12, Notre Dame Academy Girls High School, Los Angeles, CA. David Romero, Educator
How Can I See Who Won an Award?
If you are a student who entered the Awards . . .
Log in to your student dashboard to see if you won an award! All award recipients will see an option to download a digital congratulatory letter and certificate from the main page of their dashboard. These downloads will be available until March 22, 2022. To see a full list of award recipients in your region and more information about award materials, check out your regional web page by searching your school’s zip code here.
If you are an educator with students who entered the Awards . . .
Log in to your educator dashboard and click the link that says “Regional Award Certificates and Notification Letters.” Here, you will be able to access all of the congratulatory letters and certificates for students connected with your account who received an award. Visit your regional web page for more information about what your award recipients can expect.
If you don’t have an account and are just curious . . .
Search for award recipients in your area by looking up your area’s regional web page here.
What’s Next?
March 10 – Regional Virtual Celebration
From now through March 10, join us every other week on the blog to preview Gold Key works as we celebrate all of our regional award winners and participants! Stream the virtual ceremony live on Thursday, March 10 at 7:00 pm ET. Sign up for an email remidner here! And save the date here!
March 23 – National Award Announcement Day
All remote programs Gold Key Award winners and American Voices & Visions Nominees should stay tuned for National Award Announcement Day on March 23. Over the next few weeks, scores of writers and artists from around the country will review the highest-awarded regional works in consideration for National Medals. On March 23, check artandwriting.org or your dashboard to see our 2022 National Medalists!
To all students currently in grades 7–11 who entered the 2022 Awards: Keep creating this year! The new projects you’re exploring this spring are eligible for the 2023 Awards—hang onto them until September when you can start entering again. Check the remote programs blog over the summer to participate in our Write Across America marathon and share your latest and greatest creations. We can’t wait to see what you do next!
Looking for more opportunities to be recognized? Students of African descent are invited to participate in local and national ACT-SO competitions! NAACP’s ACT-SO is a community-based program that provides forum for youth of African descent to receive recognition for their achievements in academics, literary arts, visual arts, and the sciences.
The Scholastic Awards Summer (SAS) Scholarship Program provides students who have been recognized by the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards an opportunity to attend summer art or writing programs on a full-tuition scholarship. Students in grades 7–11 who receive a Gold or Silver Key and complete a SAS Scholarship application will be considered for a SAS Scholarship. March 4 is the deadline to apply.
The Scholastic Art & Writing Awards are open for entries annually from September through December. See upcoming important dates to learn more about what’s next for the Awards.
Region-at-Large 