The visual arts students at John Adams are well aware of what the month of January entails: the Scholastic Art and Writing contest results. After a month of anticipation and excitement, the recognition program has finally released a list of the region’s visual art award recipients.

Scholastics Art and Writing Awards is a highly prestigious and competitive recognition program that acknowledges and awards students’ visual and writing achievements. Every year, the program receives over 250,000 submissions from students across that nation. Students may submit artwork and/or writing that falls into one of twenty-eight categories, including drawing, photography, ceramics, journalism, and more. 

The submissions first undergo judging on a regional level and have the opportunity to receive an honorable mention, a silver key, a gold key, or an additional award nomination that pertains to a specific medium or theme. If the student receives a gold key, the highest regional award, the piece is considered for national judging and the student has the opportunity to be chosen as a national medalist.

This year, seventeen John Adams students have received recognition from the Scholastics Visual Art program, totalling fifty-two awards— 7 gold keys, 18 silver keys, 26 honorable mentions, and one American Vision Award nominee. 

John Adams senior Sofia Frazee received ten awards this year, including an American Vision Award nomination for her fiber art series “Celestial Conscious.” This nomination is granted to students whose work conveys an authentic voice or vision through. This is Frazee’s last year participating in the program and she  reflected on her experience with Scholastics.

“It’s definitely a good way for young artists to experience a higher level of competition that they’re normally not used to,” she said. “And it can really encourage you to be creative and try something outside of your comfort zone.”

Frazee will be waiting until mid-March to find out if any of her artwork will receive national medals, possibly promising her a trip to New York City, where pieces recognized on a national level are exhibited in the annual National Exhibition.

A slideshow with all of the JA pieces that were recognized this year can be viewed here.

The region’s students whose work has been recognized by the program will be seeing their pieces exhibited in the South Bend Museum of Art in downtown South Bend during the next several months. The pieces will be exhibited in the Warner Gallery from February 4 until April 29.

Submissions for next year’s Scholastics Art and Writing Awards will open as early as September 1, 2023. High school students who are interested in being recognized by the program are encouraged to submit their artwork and writing to artandwriting.org.