Six Southwest Virginia Art Students are National Scholastic Art Award Winners

Six high school students from the New River Valley were announced as winners in the national art competition sponsored by the Alliance for Young Artists & Writers.

On March 17, six high school artists from the New River Valley learned they were winners in the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards at the national level. The Scholastic Art & Writing Awards are the country's longest-running and most prestigious scholarship and recognition program for creative students in grades 7–12. The students first qualified by winning awards at the regional level through the Southwest Virginia affiliate organization, the Fine Arts Center for the New River Valley. The winners from Southwest Virginia joined more than 80,000 student winners from across the country.

Winners from the New River Valley and their teachers are:

• AMERICAN VISIONS MEDAL & GOLD MEDAL - “Lamb Chop” by Allison Pully - Lord Botetourt High School; Ingrid Chase, Teacher

• GOLD MEDAL - “Early Mornings” by Karen Villaneueva - Blacksburg High School; Katy Dryman, Teacher

• SILVER MEDAL - “Pieces of Me” by Urunna Anyanwu - Burton Center for Arts & Tech; Natalie Strum, Teacher

• SILVER MEDAL - “Queen Elizardbeth” by Andrea Gonzalez - Burton Center for Arts & Tech; Natalie Strum, Teacher

• SILVER MEDAL - “Pollo Loco” by Halle Reese - Lord Botetourt High School; Ingrid Chase, Teacher

• SILVER MEDAL - “The Will O’ Wisp” by Lucy Burnett - Community High School of Arts & Academics; Patti Kapral, Teacher

Scholastic reported that this year nearly 230,000 works of art and writing were submitted to more than 100 Affiliate Partners across the country. Students compete for silver and gold medals and the organization’s highest award, the American Visions medal. Student winners will be  honored during a special awards ceremony at the world-famous Carnegie Hall in New York City in June 2020.

For more information and to view the student artwork, visit our Scholastic 2021 page.