Plains Art Museum and Red River Valley Writing Project at North Dakota State University have announced the regional award recipients of the 2018 Scholastic Art and Writing Awards.
Presented by the nonprofit organization the Alliance for Young Artists and Writers, the 95th Scholastic Art and Writing Awards are the country's longest-running and most prestigious scholarship and recognition program for creative students in grades 7-12. Nearly 350,000 works of art and writing were submitted this program year to more than 100 Affiliate Partners across the country. A total of 94 North Dakota teenagers received regional honors, including Gold Keys, Silver Keys, Honorable Mentions or American Visions and Voices nominations.
“There is tremendous youth talent in the fields of art and writing in the state of North Dakota, and we are grateful that the awards provide an opportunity for us to recognize that talent in a meaningful way,” said Kelly Sassi, Red River Valley Writing Project director.
North Dakota recipients include:
Art Award Winners
· Fischer Ackerson, Silver Key
· Silver Anderson, Honorable Mention, Hunter
· Adam B, American Visions Nominee, Gold Key, Silver Key, Honorable Mention. West Fargo
· Kaylee Bartram, Honorable Mention. Kindred
· Brooke Bergen, three Honorable Mentions. Fargo
· Jakob Bloomquist, American Visions nominee, two Gold Keys, Silver Key, three Honorable Mentions. Tower City
· Jenna Christian, Gold Key. Fargo
· Nicole Dill, American Visions nominee, Gold Key. Fargo
· Taylor Fey, Silver key, Honorable Mention. Fargo
· Janessa Grave, Gold Key. West Fargo
· Payton Johnson, Silver Key. Page
· Taylor Johnson, Honorable Mention. Coleharbor
· Kaitlynn Kinkead, Silver Key, Honorable Mention. Sherwood
· Amalia LeMier, Honorable Mention. Fargo
· S.F. Lunde, Honorable Mention. Kindred
· Ashley Mindt, American Visions Nominee, Gold Key. Mandan
· Mikaili Prince, Honorable Mention. Devils Lake
· Olivia Propeck, Silver Key. Fargo
· Mackenzie Reinhardt, three Honorable Mentions. Hazen
· Deanna Rose, Silver Key. Grand Forks
· Elizabeth Schlecht, Honorable Mention. Kindred
· Eva Sobak, three Honorable Mentions. Fairdale
· Miriam Sullivan, Honorable Mention. Cando
· Karl Swenson, three Honorable Mentions. Kindred
· Hannah Thomas, Honorable Mention. Fargo
Writing Award Winners
· Emmanuella Amponsah, Honorable Mention. Fargo South High School, Fargo.
· Yazmyn Azure, American Voices Nominee, Gold Key. Beulah High School, Beulah.
· Jordyn Blotsky, Gold Key, Silver Key. Watford City High School, Watford City.
· Peyton Blotsky, Honorable Mention. Watford City High School, Watford City.
· Tiffany Brunelle, Honorable Mention. Turtle Mountain Community High School, Belcourt.
· Mariah Cavanagh, Honorable Mention. Horizon Middle School, Bismarck.
· Michelle Chadraa, American Voices Nominee, two Gold Keys, two Silver Keys. Davies High School, Fargo.
· Puja Chhetri, Honorable Mention. Fargo North High School, Fargo.
· Cody Christianson, Silver Key. Divide County High School, Crosby.
· Lenora Combs, Honorable Mention. Divide County High School, Crosby.
· Katrina Cysewski, Silver Key. Horizon Middle School, Bismarck.
· Olivia Data, American Voices Nominee, two Gold Keys, Honorable Mention. Horizon Middle School, Bismarck.
· Sarah Dorrheim, Gold Key. Horizon Middle School, Bismarck.
· Olivia Drake, American Voices Nominee, Gold Key. Davies High School, Fargo.
· MaKenna Duray, Silver Key, two Honorable Mentions. Kindred High School, Kindred.
· Teanna Eley, Honorable Mention. Valley Middle School, Grand Forks.
· Easton Eriksmoen, Silver Key. Divide County High School, Crosby.
· Victoria Fink, Honorable Mention. Horizon Middle School, Bismarck.
· Catalina Finkielman Bramati, Honorable Mention. Horizon Middle School, Bismarck.
· Connor Fitzgerald, Honorable Mention. Lisbon High School, Lisbon.
· Caldonia Frank, Gold Key. Fargo North High School, Fargo.
· Matt Freier, Silver Key. Kindred High School, Kindred.
· Brynn Gaebe, Silver Key. Horizon Middle School, Bismarck.
· Katherine Gehrig, Honorable Mention. Kindred High School, Kindred.
· Jamie Gorres, Honorable Mention. Northwood School, Northwood.
· Hunter Harrington, three Honorable Mentions. Fargo North High School, Fargo.
· Athalia Haughton, Silver Key. Horizon Middle School, Bismarck.
· Kamryn Hellman, Gold Key. St. Mary's Central High School, Bismarck.
· Megan Hubley, Honorable Mention. Horizon Middle School, Bismarck.
· Carsten Irgens, Silver Key. Horizon Middle School, Bismarck.
· JoBeth Johnson, Gold Key. Divide County High School, Crosby.
· Payton Johnson, Honorable Mention. Northern Cass Public School, Hunter.
· Scott Johnson, two Silver Keys. Northwood School, Northwood.
· Sana Kathawala, Gold Key. Horizon Middle School, Bismarck.
· Alyssa Kemp, Gold Key, Silver Key, Honorable Mention. Cavalier Public School, Cavalier.
· Wesley Kemp, Gold Key. Cavalier Public School, Cavalier.
· Jessica Klein, Silver Key. Hazen High School, Hazen.
· Theresa Klinnert, Silver Key. Kindred High School, Kindred.
· Tawnee Laducer, Honorable Mention. Turtle Mountain Community High School, Belcourt.
· Stacia Legacie, two Silver Keys, Honorable Mention. Davies High School, Fargo.
· Iida Lehto, Honorable Mention. Watford City High School, Watford City.
· S.F. Lunde, Silver Key. Kindred High School, Kindred.
· Ntumba Lusamba, Silver Key. Fargo South High School, Fargo.
· Ellie MacFarlane, Honorable Mention. Kindred High School, Kindred.
· Gen Martinez, Gold Key, three Silver Keys, Honorable Mention. Divide County High School, Crosby.
· Joel Miller, Honorable Mention. Cavalier Public School, Cavalier.
· Ashlynn Mitzel, Silver Key. Horizon Middle School, Bismarck.
· Brooklyn Morris, Gold Key. Horizon Middle School, Bismarck.
· Diane Mutumukeye, American Voices Nominee, Gold Key. Fargo South High School, Fargo.
· Rylan Myron, Silver Key. Northwood School, Northwood.
· Avery Nelson, Honorable Mention. Horizon Middle School, Bismarck.
· Morgan Nelson, Silver Key. Horizon Middle School, Bismarck.
· Erin Palmer, Honorable Mention. Horizon Middle School, Bismarck.
· Sunni Parisien, Honorable Mention. Turtle Mountain Community High School, Belcourt.
· Luke Pengilly, Honorable Mention, Horizon Middle School, Bismarck.
· Emily Plutowski, Gold Key, Silver Key, three Honorable Mentions. Minto School, Minto.
· Colton Rostvet, Honorable Mention. Northwood School, Northwood.
· Emily Russon, Silver Key. Horizon Middle School, Bismarck.
· Ainsley Sabo, Gold Key. Horizon Middle School, Bismarck.
· Juliet Sampson, two Gold Keys, Davies High School, Fargo.
· Aliyah Schaar, Honorable Mention. Horizon Middle School, Bismarck.
· Ellie Mae Schulz, Honorable Mention. North Sargent School, Gwinner.
· Maria Sebekow, Honorable Mention. Northwood School, Northwood.
· Hannah Slater, Silver Key. Fargo North High School, Fargo.
· Amelia Smith, Honorable Mention.
· Rebeca Trautman, Honorable Mention. North Star Public School, Cando.
· Courtney Vondal, Silver Key. Valley Middle School, Grand Forks.
· Autumn Vote, Honorable Mention. Turtle Mountain Community High School, Belcourt.
· Hailie Wilke, Honorable Mention. Horizon Middle School, Bismarck.
The state awards ceremony is scheduled Saturday, March 10 at Plains Art Museum. It will include a live jazz band and refreshments during the reception from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m., and the program begins at 6:30 p.m. David Bertolini, interim dean of the NDSU College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, will be the featured speaker. North Dakota poet Denise Lajimodiere will read from her work.
Since the program’s founding in 1923, the awards have fostered the creativity and talent of millions of students, including renowned alumni who have gone on to become leaders in their fields, including Andy Warhol, Truman Capote, Richard Avedon, Philip Pearlstein and Sylvia Plath. More recently, Stephen King, Richard Linklater, Zac Posen and Lena Dunham received Scholastic Art and Writing Awards when they were teens.
Local sponsors include Wells Fargo and Fredrickson & Byron, as well as the Red River Valley Writing Project at NDSU and Plains Art Museum.
National sponsors are Scholastic Inc., The Maurice R. Robinson Fund, Command Web Offset Co., The New York Times, the New York Life Foundation, The Herb Block Foundation, Blick Art Materials & Utrect Art Supplies, Golden Artist Colors, Garcia Family Foundation, Bloomberg Philanthropies, the ESA Foundation, Jacques and Natasha Gelman Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, Creative Circle, the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs and Amazon Literary Partnership; numerous other individual, foundation, and corporate funders; and the National Student Poets Program, the Institute of Museum and Library Services, the Poetry Foundation and the Academy of American Poets.