Swimmers, by LA senior Hindley Wang, won a Gold Key Award in the very competitive painting category in the 2017 Scholastic Art Awards.
Each year art students across the country are invited to submit work to the Scholastic Art Awards competition. This year, 17 Lincoln Academy students submitted work, and six were honored with awards. All six are students in Nina Sylvia’s drawing, painting, or advanced art classes. Leon Wang and Wenjing Yang received honorable mentions for three drawings and illustrations and one senior portfolio. Jessie Xu received a Silver Key Award for her mixed media piece “Wordless Words.” Anna Sirois, Jupiter Solarzano, and Hindley Wang received Gold Key Awards for mixed media arts and painting.
The Scholastic Art Awards competition is sponsored by the Scholastic Publishing Co., and selected by the nonprofit organization Alliance for Young Artists and Writers. The competition has taken place every year since 1923; this year, more than 90,000 young artists and writers submitted work nationwide. This year in Maine, a total of 486 submissions were made to the Maine regional affiliate Scholastics Art Awards Competition. From these submissions the jury selected 150 honorable mentions, 86 Silver Key Awards, 63 Gold Key Awards, and five American Visions.
“It’s not only an honor to win the Gold Key Award for myself, but it’s an honor that the three of us within the same AP art class have won a Gold Key Award,” said LA senior and Gold Key Award winner Sirois. “I feel truly proud of my work when I see others appreciating it. … It adds value to each piece.”
“I am so honored to receive the Gold Key, because the students who enter the Scholastic Art Awards are very serious about their art, so it means a lot to have my art stand out in a crowd of such talent,” said Solarzano, also a senior. “I am in my studio every day, and I am happy to see my hard work be recognized.”
Senior Hindley Wang was surprised — and happy — to be recognized this year with a Gold Key Award in the competitive painting category. “This award was very unexpected,” she said. “I almost decided not to participate in this but Ms. Sylvia gives extra credit for an entry, so thanks to Ms. Sylvia!”
As Gold Key Award winners, Sirois’, Solarzano’s, and Hindley Wang’s pieces will go on to national competition. In New York City, panels of nationally renowned artists, art professionals, and arts educators review Gold Key works from across the U.S. Jurors select work for national recognition based on three criteria: 1) originality, 2) technique, and 3) emergence of a personal vision.
This year, the Maine Scholastic Art and Writing Awards Exhibition will feature the Gold Key and Silver Key Award winners. The exhibition will take place at Maine College of Art in Portland from Jan. 28-Feb. 11. The awards ceremony will be on Saturday, Feb. 11, from 1-3 p.m. Visitors are also encouraged to see the exhibition during Portland’s First Friday event on Friday, Feb. 3, from 5-8 p.m.
