The Carnegie Mellon University College of Fine Arts is once again transformed with 300 of the best high school student artwork from the Pittsburgh region! The work, installed in the Great Hall and in the third floor foyers, is part of the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards. The work will be on view March 12 through 23 with an Awards Ceremony on March 23 from 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM. Both the exhibition and the ceremony are free and open to the public.

The Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, founded in Pittsburgh a century ago, are the nation’s longest-running, most prestigious recognition program for creative teens. The School of Art has a long lineage of alumni winners including Philip Pearlstein, Andy Warhol, Mel Bochner, and John Currin, among many more recent alumni and current students.

The exhibition and awards celebrate the Gold and Silver Key winning student artwork from Allegheny, Beaver and Butler counties, before moving on to National Awards consideration. In addition to the 300 works on view, another 400 honorable mentions will be featured in a digital display. The Pittsburgh regional awards are organized by Megan Bonistalli, art teacher at Seneca Valley Senior High School, with support from the Carnegie Mellon University School of Art, the regional exhibition sponsor. The Seneca Valley School District is an Affiliate Partner of the Alliance for Young Artists & Writers, a nonprofit that presents the Scholastic Awards.

Last year, more than 100,000 students from across the United States and Canada submitted more than 300,000 original works of art and writing. Award-winning students are eligible for a wide range of scholarships, some given by the Scholastic Awards and others by universities, including CMU.