This exhibition features more than 500 works of art and writing by New York City teens who received the highest regional recognition in the 2023 Scholastic Art & Writing Awards—the Gold Key Award. Presented by the Alliance for Young Artists & Writers, the Scholastic Awards are the longest-running and most prestigious recognition program for creative teens in the United States. The Met is honored to host this annual exhibition and celebrate the creativity of these young artists.
This year more than 3,000 students in grades 7 to 12 entered nearly 12,000 works to the New York City Region of the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, encompassing almost 300 schools in all five boroughs. In addition, more than 100 literary and visual arts professionals served as judges, selecting works based on originality, technical skill, and emergence of a personal voice or vision.
The Alliance for Young Artists & Writers’ mission is to identify students with exceptional artistic and literary talent and present their visionary work to the world through recognition, exhibition, publication, and scholarships. Established in 1923, the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards bring the work of young people to regional and national audiences. Former recipients include artists Andy Warhol, Cy Twombly, Kay WalkingStick, and John Baldessari—all represented in The Met collection—and writers Sylvia Plath, Truman Capote, and Joyce Carol Oates.
Learn more about the Alliance for Young Artists & Writers and the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards or connect on Instagram @artandwriting #goldkey. For more information contact info@artandwriting.org.
See a complete list of 2023 New York City Scholastic art award recipients and writing award recipients.
The NYC Scholastic Awards are administered by the Alliance for Young Artists & Writers in collaboration with The New School’s Open Campus, Parsons School of Design, and Eugene Lang College of Liberal Arts. This exhibition is sponsored, in part, by generous support from Scholastic Inc., Maurice R. Robinson Fund, Blick Art Materials, Dedalus Foundation, William Talbott Hillman Foundation, Wolf Kahn Foundation, Cowles Charitable Trust, and by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.
