Scholastic Art & Writing Awards

Thanks to the Baltimore Office of Promotion & The Arts (BOPA), Maryland is now participating in the national Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, organized by the Alliance for Young Artists & Writers. A total of 3,991 works were submitted this year.

I am proud to be one of the first BOPA board members to support this effort, and I was honored to be a part of the local awards ceremony in March at Baltimore Center Stage. Maryland students were awarded Gold Key, Silver Key and Honorable Mentions for their visual art or writing submission. Also, "American Voices" and American Visions" nominees were announced as the strongest regional works. Honored writings were read, and honored visual art was displayed. Gold Keys are automatically forwarded for consideration at the national level. Among the honors are opportunities for recognition, exhibition, publication, and scholarships. 

Keynote Speakers were BOPA CEO Donna Drew Sawyer and filmmaker, curator and video essayist Kirk Shannon-Butts, who serves as curator for City Hall, City of Baltimore, and a member of the Baltimore Public Art Commission.

Nationwide, students submitted nearly 340,000 original works this year. The awards program is a venerated program, dating back to 1923. Past recipients include visual artists Andy Warhol, Hughie Lee-Smith, Paul Chan and Ken Burns, as well as writers Sylvia Plath, Truman Capote and Joyce Carol Oates.