We’re excited to announce that the College of Fine Arts’ Great Hall is transformed with 400 pieces of the best high school student artwork from the Pittsburgh region! The work, installed on temporary gallery walls and pedestals, is part of the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, which is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year. The work will be on view February 21 through 25 with an Awards Ceremony on February 25 from 12:00 – 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. Pictured above is work by award-winning current CMU first year students (left to right) Jennifer Zhao, Lorie Chen, and Gian Lee.

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 400 works on view, another 600 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 260,000 original works across 28 different categories 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.