Each year, the Alliance partners with more than 100 visual arts and literary arts organizations across the country to host the National Scholastic Art and Writing Awards. In 2021, students from around the country submitted nearly 400,000 works of art and writing to the Scholastic Awards. Submissions are juried by luminaries in the visual and literary arts, some of whom are past award recipients. Panelists look for works that best exemplify originality, technical skill, and the emergence of a personal voice or vision.
This year Pleasant Grove High School art students earned 76 awards for the western division of the country and 23 works advanced to the national level. In addition, Pleasant Grove High School visual arts students Eddie Hill and Katie Cheatham were honored on June 9 at the National Scholastic Awards Ceremony at Carnegie Hall in New York City.
Students receiving Gold Keys, Silver Keys, and Honorable Mentions are celebrated within their communities through local exhibitions and ceremonies. Gold Key works are then judged nationally by an impressive panel of creative–industry experts to receive National Medals, including Gold Medals, Silver Medals, American Voices & Visions Medals, Gold Medal and Silver with Distinction Portfolio Medals, and Special Achievement Awards. National Medalists are recognized in part at the national ceremony at Carnegie Hall in New York City.
These awards are the most prestigious awards in the country with well-known artists and writing alumni such as Andy Warhol, Stephen King, Sylvia Plath, Zac Posen, Robert Redford, and Lena Dunham.
The Pleasant Grove High School Art Department is under the direction of Nicole Brisco and assisted by Melissa Manning.
