Students Receive National Scholastic Art & Writing Awards

 This year, 71 total Massachusetts Regional Scholastic Art & Writing awards were given to CSW students. Three CSW students were given national awards: Katie Awalt-Conley ’16 (drawing) and Ellena Sakai ’18 (mixed media) received Gold medals and Lena Christakis ’16 (painting) received a Silver medal. 

16 CSW students received Gold Key awards, the top honor presented by the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (SMFA) and 16 students received Silver Key awards. 19 individual Gold Key awards were presented.

Students in grades 7-12 from independent, public and parochial schools in Massachusetts for consideration submitted 15,000 individual pieces of art and portfolios to the SMFA. Judged on originality, technical skill and personal vision, the collection of art included mixed media, painting, drawing, photography, sculpture, film and animation. 

 

Olivia Ask ’16 and Kavita Sundaram ‘15 were recipients of Gold Key awards for their entire portfolio of work. Silver Key awards were also given to six students for their portfolios: Katie Awalt-Conley ’16, Juliet Henry ’16, Julz Iwerks ’16, Max Miller ’16, Nate Williams ’16 and Jingxin Yang ’16. An additional 26 Honorable Mentions were given to students for individual pieces of work, and Michaela Kahn '16 received an Honorable Mention for her portfolio. Individual Gold Key awards were given to Katie Awalt-Conley '16, Lena Christakis '16, Caroline Coolidge '17 Alexandra Kahn '16, Michaela Kahn '16, Wenqi Li '16, Max Miller '16, Julz Iwerks '16, Tommy Schieb '17, Fia Tharp '17, Sarah Stockdale '17, Jingxin Yang '16 and Jiayi Li '18.

“One of the reasons we like to encourage our students to enter the Scholastic Art Awards is that doing so offers them a rare opportunity to see their artwork in relation to work being made by other teens, not only in Massachusetts, but also at the national level,” said Todd Bartel, visual arts teacher, who assists students in the coordination of submission materials. CSW seniors who create art portfolios typically apply to these awards and they do exceptionally well, but Todd says that he also selects individual pieces by freshman, sophomore and junior students who stand out as particularly potent representations of an individual's voice, or a wonderfully executed idea, or perhaps the keen interest of a student and or their insights. Both he and Visual Arts Chair Tony Loreti maintain that there isn’t one aspect of the creative process as being more important than any another.

 

Todd added that “in the art department, we cherish and champion true inquiry, risk-taking, thoughtful problem-solving, keen observation of the world, speaking up for those who can't speak for themselves, and of course, the visualization of student's own thoughts, ideas, feelings and empiricism.”

 

The Scholastic Art and Writing awards date back to 1923 and have grown to become the longest-running, most prestigious recognition program for creative teens in the U.S.  Noteworthy past winners include Andy Warhol, Sylvia Plath, Truman Capote, Stephen King and many more.