Calling All Creative Teens: The 2025 Scholastic Art & Writing Awards is Now Welcoming Entries

The Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, the nation’s longest-running and most prestigious scholarship and recognition program for creative teens, are now accepting entries from teenagers across the country in grades 7–12. As of Monday, September 9, teen artists and writers are officially invited to enter their original works for recognition, scholarship/cash award opportunities, and the chance to join the ranks of the program’s esteemed alumni, including Tschabalala Self, Stephen King, Kay WalkingStick, José Parlá, Amanda Gorman, Charles White, Joyce Carol Oates, and Andy Warhol. For over a century, the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, currently presented by the nonprofit Alliance for Young Artists & Writers, have advocated for and uplifted the interests, abilities, and experiences of countless creative teens, validating their artistic abilities and certifying that their voices truly do matter.  

To learn more about the 2025 Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, and to enter work in any of the program’s 28 categories, visit: artandwriting.org

During the 2024 program year, more than 110,000 teens from U.S. territories, Canada, and every state in the nation entered nearly 340,000 works of art and writing for adjudication. Works by nearly 50,000 teens received regional recognition, and more than 2,500 works of art and writing received national recognition, including $400,000 in direct scholarships. 

“We here at the Alliance make it our mission to open the door for teens to freely explore their talents, follow their creative pursuits, and speak their minds through their chosen medium. In our current climate, it is more important than ever that teens have a creative outlet, and we are delighted to welcome young people nationwide to our community, where they can feel comfortable in expressing their ideas and themselves,” said Christopher Wisniewski, Executive Director of the Alliance for Young Artists & Writers. “Each year we continue to be amazed by the work that today’s teens put forth, and we can’t wait to see what this year’s class of young and innovative teens will share with us.” 

As one of the country’s most significant sources of scholarships for young artists and writers, the Alliance is excited to introduce new opportunities for the 2025 programming year, including monetary prizes for recipients of the American Voices & Visions Awards. Overall, the 2025 Scholastic Art & Writing Awards are poised to award more direct scholarships and monetary prizes than ever before, with returning and updated scholarships and cash awards totaling more than $450,000.

The 2025 scholarships and cash awards include:

• American Voices & Visions Awards: Underwritten by Dav and Sayuri Pilkey, the American Voices & Visions Awards honoring a superlative work of art and writing in each of the Awards’ regions now includes $500 scholarships to approximately 150 works from across the country.  
• Best-in-Grade Award: Underwritten by Bloomberg Philanthropies, the Best-in-Grade Award recognizes 24 works at the national level (two art and two writing per grade, grades 7-12) with a $500 scholarship as well as a $250 cash award for their educators. 
• Flaunt It Award: The Flaunt It Award, developed in collaboration with Don’t Hide It, Flaunt It and underwritten by Don’t Hide It, Flaunt It (DHIFI, Inc), RBC Foundation USA, Morgan Stanley, and HP recognizes teens who look or feel different from their peers and share their personal story about what makes them unique. The Flaunt It Award includes a $2,000 scholarship for two teens (one artist and one writer) and a $500 cash award for their educator. Winners will be selected based on their outstanding exploration of DHIFI’s theme: “The things that make me different make me, me.” 
• The Herblock Award for Editorial Cartoon: Underwritten by The Herb Block Foundation, The Herblock Award for Editorial Cartoon offers $2,000 scholarships for three teens, and a $500 cash award for their educators, whose visual art offers commentary or criticism on current events, social events, or political topics. 
• New York Life Award: Underwritten by the New York Life Foundation, the New York Life Award offers $2,500 scholarships/travel stipends to ten teens, and a $500 cash award for their educators, whose work explore death and personal grief. 
• Portfolio Awards: The Portfolio Awards are the program’s highest honor, recognizing an exemplary cohort of graduating seniors creating original art and writing. Made possible by generous donors, they offer scholarships or cash awards of $12,500 each to 16 Gold Medal Portfolio Award winners and $2,000 each to 24 Silver Medal Portfolio Award winners. In addition, $1,000 awards are presented to the educators of Gold Medal Portfolio Award winners and $250 awards are presented to the educators of Silver Medal Portfolio Award winners. This year, The Alliance is thrilled to announce The Dorothea Tanning Gold Medal Portfolio Award, endowed by a landmark gift from The Destina Foundation to honor the legacy of an artist and writer distinguished by her independent spirit, experimental approach in various media, and achievements in both the visual and literary arts.

Participants ages 13 and up residing in the United States, U.S. territories and military bases, or Canada are invited to enter original work in any of the Awards’ 28 art and writing categories, including drawing and illustration, photography, flash fiction, poetry, film and animation, and journalism. All works are selected for Awards based on originality, skill, and the emergence of personal vision or voice and without knowledge of the teen’s biographical or demographic information. Works are reviewed first on a regional level by approximately 100 local affiliates of the Alliance, and those that receive Gold Keys are then adjudicated nationally by an impressive panel of industry experts. Entry fees are $10 for individual entries and $30 for portfolios. Fees can be waived for any potential participant for whom the fee is a barrier for entry. Fee waivers are made possible, in part, by BLICK Art Materials.   

Deadlines for entries vary by region. The National Medalists of the 2025 Scholastic Art & Writing Awards will be announced in March 2025, and throughout the spring the Alliance and local Affiliates will host a series of celebrations and exhibitions for teens, families, and educators. Recipients may have their work published in anthologies showcasing stories, essays, and poetry by teen authors, and highlighting paintings, photographs, drawings, and other works by teen artists. For more details about the Awards, visit www.artandwriting.org.

About the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards

Founded in 1923, the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards are presented by the 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization the Alliance for Young Artists & Writers, and are made possible through the generosity of Scholastic Inc., The Destina Foundation, New York Life Foundation, The Maurice R. Robinson Fund, BLICK Art Materials, Command Companies, The Herb Block Foundation, Lindenmeyr Book Publishing Papers, Quad and the Windhover Foundation, Public Funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, Don’t Hide It, Flaunt It, RBC Foundation USA, Morgan Stanley, HP, Bloomberg Philanthropies, GV Group (Grafica Veneta/Lake Book Manufacturing/PA Hutchison), National Endowment for the Arts, Garcia Family Foundation, The New York Times, and numerous other individual, foundation, and corporate funders; and, for the National Student Poets Program, the Institute of Museum and Library Services, The Hearthland Foundation, and Academy of American Poets.

For more information about the Alliance for Young Artists & Writers, visit www.artandwriting.org. Additional details about the Awards can be found in the Scholastic media room: http://mediaroom.scholastic.com/artandwriting.