Beech Tree News Network

Bowling Green, KY  — Monday, February 27, 2017 — The Southern Kentucky Performing Arts Center (SKyPAC) has announced the regional award recipients of the 2017 Scholastic Art & Writing Awards whose award winning works will be on exhibit in the Wedge Children’s Gallery now through Friday, March 10, 2017 with an award ceremony and reception honoring the students on Saturday, March 4, 2017 from 2:00 PM – 4:00 PM. 
 
Presented by the nonprofit organization, the Alliance for Young Artists & Writers, the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards are the country's longest-running and most prestigious award and recognition program for creative students in grades 7–12. This program year, nearly 400,000 works of art and writing were submitted to 100 Affiliate Partners across the country. One hundred Twenty-Four (124) creative teens in south central Kentucky received regional honors from SKyPAC the local Scholastic Affiliate, including: 

 
ART AWARDS: Butler County High School (Art Teacher: Catron Burdette) – Haley Penrod, Honorable Mention; Harlie VanMeter, Honorable Mention
 
The award winning artworks will be on exhibit now through Friday, March 10, 2017 in the Wedge Children’s Gallery. An award ceremony and reception honoring the students will be held on Saturday, March 4, 2017 from 2:00 pm – 4:00 pm in the Laura G. Turner Lobby at SKyPAC. 
 
The SKyPAC galleries are free and open to the public Monday through Friday 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. For more information about how your students can participate in next year’s Scholastic Art & Writing Awards program please contact our Marketing and Gallery Director, Jessica Snodgrass, by phone at 270-904-5001 or email [email protected]. 
 
About the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards
 
Since the program’s founding in 1923, all works are blindly judged based on originality, technical skill, and the emergence of a personal vision or voice. For Gold Key works of art and writing in the Awards’ 29 categories including photography, poetry, sculpture, humor, video game design, and more, the opportunities for recognition will continue when the works are adjudicated again on a national level by a panel of leading creative professionals. 
 
“Year after year, I am astounded by the groundswell of creativity that pours out of students from every corner of the country through the regional Scholastic Art & Writing Awards,” said Virginia McEnerney, Executive Director of the Alliance for Young Artists & Writers. “This program develops young talent through this first act of recognition here at home—a defining moment of validation on students’ journeys to personal and professional success—then again on the national level by opening the doors of opportunity for exhibition, publication and access to millions of dollars in scholarships.” 
 
All students who receive Scholastic Art & Writing Awards walk in the footsteps of notable Scholastic Awards Alumni who have gone on to become leaders in their fields, including Andy Warhol, Truman Capote, Richard Avedon, Sylvia Plath, and filmmaker Ken Burns, all of whom received Scholastic Awards when they were teens. More recently, Myla Goldberg, Richard Linklater, Zac Posen, and Lena Dunham have become celebrated Alumni of the program. National Gold Medalists will be honored during a special awards ceremony at the world-famous Carnegie Hall in New York City and all National recipients are eligible for a wealth of additional opportunities such as inclusion in the Art.Write.Now.Tour traveling exhibition and The Best Teen Writing anthology. National Medalist poets are considered for the National Student Poets Program, the nation’s highest honor for young poets presenting original work. 
 
The Alliance is grateful for its generous sponsors, who provide funds to support and produce the Awards: Scholastic Inc., The Maurice R. Robinson Fund, Command Web Offset Co., The New York Times, Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP, The National Endowment for the Arts, Blick Art Materials & Utrecht Art Supplies, The Herb Block Foundation, RBC Capital Markets, Neiman Marcus, Bloomberg Philanthropies,  Golden Artist Colors, The Gedenk Movement, the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs; numerous other individual, foundation, and corporate funders; and, for the National Student Poets Program, the Institute of Museum and Library Services and the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities. 
 
A complete list of 2016 regional Scholastic Art & Writing Awards recipients will available online at artandwriting.org To learn more about the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, visit the online Scholastic News Room at mediaroom.scholastic.com/artandwriting. 
 
About SKyPAC SKyPAC Foundation, a 501(c) 3 organization, oversees the administration of SKyPAC and the Capitol Arts Center facilities and programs. A premier entertainment center, SKyPAC is a multi-use facility located in downtown Bowling Green, KY. The facility includes an 1,800-seat state-of-the-art auditorium that serves as the home of Orchestra Kentucky; The Renshaw Education Center, which houses the Carol Wedge Studio Theater - a flexible 2,600 sq. ft. space for intimate productions and gatherings; several multi-functional rehearsal halls/classrooms; a children’s art gallery and a main gallery. The Capitol Arts Center provides a 750-seat auditorium and two art galleries, the Houchens Gallery and Mezzanine Gallery.  
 
The Kentucky Arts Council, the state arts agency, provides operating support to the Southern Kentucky Performing Arts Center with state tax dollars and federal funding from the National Endowment for the Arts