BRATTLEBORO — The Brattleboro Museum & Art Center (BMAC) is accepting submissions for the 2014 Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, a prestigious national recognition initiative for teenagers with exceptional artistic and literary talent.
Vermont students in grades 7-12 are invited to submit art and writing entries in 28 categories, including comic art, ceramics and glass, digital art, architecture, painting, photography, video game, poetry, humor, dramatic script, science fiction, and personal essay/memoir.
“We believe the world needs both makers and breakers: those committed to expressing themselves creatively, who push the boundaries of expression, and challenge the rest of us to do the same,” said Virginia McEnerney, executive director of the Alliance for Young Artists & Writers, the nonprofit organization that administers the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards.
“These are the leaders of tomorrow who are learning right now, via the arts, to see the world differently and provide new ideas and visions,” she added.
Since the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards was founded in 1923, it has developed an impressive legacy of identifying the early promise of some of our nation's most outstanding visionaries. Notable past Award alumni include Truman Capote, Philip Pearlstein, Sylvia Plath, Andy Warhol, John Updike, and Stephen King, who won when they were teens.
Vermont students may submit original works in any of the Awards' 28 art and writing categories. All works are evaluated based on originality, technical skill, and the emergence of a personal vision or voice, first regionally through BMAC and then nationally by an impressive panel of creative-industry experts.
Through a blind judging process, students' submissions are judged by such luminaries in the visual and literary arts as Nikki Giovanni, Red Grooms, Paul Giamatti, Faith Ringgold, Wangechi Mutu, David Sedaris, and Andres Serrano, who have served as past jurors.
The deadline for art and writing submissions in Vermont is Dec. 31.
Regional award winners will be announced by Jan. 29, 2014. A selection of award-winning work will be exhibited at BMAC for two weeks beginning Feb. 22, culminating in an awards ceremony on Saturday, March 8 at noon. National award winners will be announced by the end of March.