Celebrating Scholastic Art & Writing Awards winners at Carnegie Hall, June 4, 2009. Check out some of our favorite Awards Ceremony photos from prior years here!

This edited post originally appeared on Scholastic’s On Our Minds blog. By Lia Zneimer.

With more than 230,000 submissions, the Scholastic Awards’ 90th Anniversary year attracted more participants than ever before, and next week, more than 800 of the 1,600+ talented teens who received national honors will make their way to New York City to attend the National Scholastic Art & Writing Awards Ceremony at Carnegie Hall. There, the students will share the spotlight with actress and arts advocate Sarah Jessica Parker and fashion designer Zac Posen, who won a Scholastic Award in 1999 and will be presented with the 2013 Alumni Achievement Award. To top it all off, First Lady Michelle Obama and actress Lena Dunham of Girls (also an Awards alumna) will offer their congratulations via video. Plus–as if this news could possibly get more exciting–the Carnegie Hall ceremony will be webcast LIVE in honor of the Awards’ 90th anniversary so that people across the nation can share in the celebration! For more information on how to register for the live webcast–or to hold an Awards viewing party in your hometown–check out this blog post. Read More

By Timarie Harrigan, Manager of Development & External Relations

This is a busy time of year for the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, but a good busy. We’re getting ready to celebrate this year’s class of creative teens, our 90th Anniversary Year, and a bright and growing future for the Awards. (Did you know we hit a record number of 230,000 submissions this year?) This year is big, and we’re looking forward to doing it up in a big way at our 90th Anniversary Benefit on May 31.

Here are the basic deets:

90th Anniversary Benefit & Silent Auction
The Edison Ballroom
May 31, 2013

7:00pm – Cocktails & Silent Auction
8:00pm – Dinner & Program
9:30pm – After Party (yay!)

With so many influential, creative Scholastic Awards alums, our Silent Auction will be featuring alumni work exclusively. Read More

Photo Credit: Sabra Embury, 2011.

Today is author Ned Vizzini‘s 31st birthday! Ned won an Honorable Mention in 1996 while attending Stuyvesant High School in Manhattan, NY. As he recalls, “I sent a story into The Scholastic Writing Awards when I was 15. I didn’t win silver, gold, or bronze. I won honorable mention! But… I turned my experience receiving The Award into a short essay, sent that essay to a newspaper called New York Press, and my career began.”

Several of the essays that Ned wrote as a teenager ended up being combined into his first book, Teen Angst? Naaah…, which was published when he was just 19. Read More

This edited post originally appeared in Scholastic’s On Our Minds blog on February 10, 2012.

Our lobbies and hallways are brimming with inspiration every day. When you visit Scholastic headquarters you are surrounded by brilliant pieces of art made by artists you don’t know – yet – because every piece was created by a creative teenager that has won a Scholastic Art & Writing Award. All of these students are destined for interesting and creative futures, and some are sure to become household names. In fact, many Award alumni have.

In anticipation of the 90th Anniversary of the Awards, the Alliance for Young Artists & Writers, which runs the program, has offered visitors to our building a sneak peek at a few inspiring items from their archives.

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Photo credit: Al Seib / Los Angeles Times

Robert Redford is an Oscar-winning actor, director, producer, environmentalist, philanthropist, founder of the Sundance Film
Festival… and an alumnus of the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards! Today we join many in wishing him a very Happy 75th Birthday.

Robert Redford grew up in Santa Monica, California. While in high school, he was active in both sports and the arts. Redford looked up to writer and artist Henry Miller and hoped to follow the same path. Read More

Photo Credit: Austin Irving

You might recognize Waris Alhuwalia from his appearances in the Wes Anderson films The Darjeeling Limited and The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou. Or, you might be familiar his jewelry line, HOUSE OF WARIS. Here at the Alliance, we know him as one the fantastic jurors of our 2011 American Visions award.
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