Interlochen Arts Academy students and graduates excel in the 2024 national Scholastic Art & Writing Awards
Academy-affiliated artists and writers received a total of 16 awards in the nation’s most prestigious recognition program for young creatives.
13 Interlochen Arts Academy students and recent graduates received a total of 16 awards in the national level of the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards. The winners represent four of the Academy’s seven artistic disciplines: Creative Writing, Film & New Media, Interdisciplinary Arts, and Visual Arts.
Six students from the Academy’s Visual Arts Division scored a combined total of seven awards. Holland Haeck, Sihyun Park, and Haisong Zhao earned Gold Medals; Park was also awarded an American Visions Award—one of the competition’s highest honors. Campbell Cronk, Ava Pecora, and Maya Tzonev received Silver Medals. Cronk also earned an Honorable Mention for her portfolio, “Empathy Through Grief.”
The Creative Writing Division took home four awards. Addison Hill, Solenn Jaubert, and Bella Rotker each received Gold Medals. Emily Pickering earned an Honorable Mention for her portfolio, “American Spectacular.”
Current Film & New Media student Emma Niu earned a Silver Medal. Incoming student Abigail Giroux, who will join the Film & New Media Division this fall, received a Gold Medal and an American Voices Award for her critical essay, “On the Importance of Emptied Spaces.”
Willow Weissbluth, an Interdisciplinary Arts student, earned a Gold Medal.
Award winners reached the national level of the competition by earning Gold Keys in Scholastic's regional competitions. As national medalists, the young artists will be honored at a virtual awards ceremony—which will be streamed live on YouTube on Wednesday, June 26 at 7 p.m. ET—and will share their winning works in national and traveling exhibitions and chapbooks, catalogs, and anthologies.
Founded in 1923, the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards are the nation’s longest-running and most prestigious recognition program for creative teens. Each year, students in grades 7-12 (ages 13 and up) from across the nation are invited to submit work in 28 categories of art and writing for consideration for regional awards, national medals, scholarships, and exhibition and publication opportunities. Entries are reviewed and selected for awards by some of the foremost leaders in the visual and literary arts. Alumni of the awards include humorist David Sedaris; author Judy Blume; poet and social activist Langston Hughes; illustrator Edward Sorel; and artist and illustrator James Warhola, among many others. The Scholastic Art & Writing Awards are presented by the Alliance for Young Artists & Writers.
2024 Award Recipients
- Campbell Cronk, “Empathy Through Grief” - Portfolio Honorable Mention
- Campbell Cronk, “Neuropathy” - Silver Medal
- Abigail Giroux*, “On the Importance of Emptied Spaces” - Gold Medal, American Voices Medal
- Holland Haeck, “Don’t Be a Stranger!” - Gold Medal
- Addison Hill, “Good News Now” - Gold Medal
- Solenn Jaubert, “How to Convince Your Dragon Dad to Be Emotionally Available” - Gold Medal
- Emma Niu, “Jar of Hearts” - Silver Medal
- Sihyun Park, “Honey” - Gold Medal, American Visions Medal
- Ava Pecora, “Esther and Giuliana’s Post Mass Endeavors” - Silver Medal
- Emily Pickering, “American Spectacular” - Portfolio Honorable Mention
- Bella Rotker, “Decomposing Nature” - Gold Medal
- Maya Tzonev, “Lean Toward the Light” - Silver Medal
- Willow Weissbluth, “splash” - Gold Medal
- Haisong Zhao, “The Movement of Pine” - Gold Medal
* denotes incoming Arts Academy student
