Scholastic sensations Cal library full of color, thanks to high school art project
Charleroi High School art teacher Patrick Camut was once a Scholastic gold key winner. Now he challenges his students to do the same. He is shown positioning a sculpture by one of his students for the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards exhibit at Manderino Library at California University of Pennsylvania.
Art teacher Casey Bennett shows the work her West Greene High School students had accepted for the 2017 Scholastic Art and Writing Awards exhibit at California University of Pennsylvania. This is the 15th year for the Southwestern Pennsylvania competition, with gold key winners advancing to the national level for the opportunity to win awards and scholarships.
The gallery at California University of Pennsylvania’s Manderino Library is a colorful, happening place after teachers arrived Jan. 21 to deliver winning pieces of art and writing that their students had submitted electronically a few weeks earlier.
These were the works that a panel of educators and professional artists and writers had viewed online, then judged for the 2017 Scholastic Art and Writing Awards of Southwestern Pennsylvania. Now, the work of gold and silver key and honorable mention winners were being hung by a handful of art-loving volunteers, who spent the better part of the day turning white walls into an eye-popping exhibit.
“I like to get an assortment of pieces in the room, then move them around until it comes together visually before I hang it,” ceramic artist Linda Winegar of Graysville said as she moved the hooked metal strands that would support each piece on the walls. “This might be the first time any of these kids have seen their work on display in a gallery setting. I want them to see the importance of presentation and how art is grouped that makes such a difference.”
Scholastic Awards have been around since 1923. What started as a small writing contest has grown over the years to become a national event, attracting submissions from seventh- through 12th-graders with regional affiliates that judge and sponsor shows, then send their gold key winners on to the national level. A number of former national winners have become household names, like artist Andy Warhol and writers John Updike, Joyce Carol Oates and Stephen King.
“This kid’s just wildly creative, and he’s only in 11th grade. I can’t wait to see what he does next,” West Greene High School art teacher Casey Bennett said as she pointed to one of the five pieces from her students and grinned. “What really amazes me is how different each piece can be, even though they might all get the same assignment. I’m so impressed with their personal visions, and glad they have this chance to show the world what they can do.”
Fifteen years ago, teachers like Bennett would have had a hard time delivering the art because there was no easy way to participate. The nearest drop-off points were in Allegheny County, and there was little incentive to drive that distance to take their work, return to pick up the rejected pieces, then go back to get the winners after the awards ceremony.
It took dedicated West Greene English teacher Janice Hatfield to instigate a group of educators and parents to help form the Western Pennsylvania Chapter of Scholastics in 2002. The new affiliate was hosted by Waynesburg University for six years before relocating to Cal U. This easier accessibility has opened the doors to artistic expression and recognition for students in Greene, Washington and Fayette counties.
Now retired, Hatfield remains a staunch supporter of budding talent and is an active member of the board. That talent came shining through the first year that student work was submitted. Justin Seaman of McGuffey took best of show in both American Voice for writing and American Vision for art awards at the national level. Seaman went on to study filmmaking at Robert Morris University and worked for Hallmark Channel, Hatfield said.
“We generally have five or six gold and silver key winners at nationals each year. That’s pretty impressive,” Hatfield said.
“I went to school in Belle Vernon, and I don’t remember ever hearing about Scholastic,” retired Charleroi art teacher Sandy Boyles said. “But when Janice got the word out, I got involved and so did some other teachers. My daughter saw what I was doing in Charleroi and started submitting her work in eighth grade at Fraizer High School in Perryopolis.”
Jenna Boyles went on to win gold keys at the national level, and after graduating in 2008, turned that gold into a $30,000 scholarship for college. She is now a graduate student at the Art Institute of Chicago , where she is studying art and technology, Boyles said.
Making it to the national level helps students build résumés, and there is a list of schools online that offer scholarships to Scholastic winners. Every year there are also five $10,000 portfolio awards offered, along with awards from other sponsors.
“Why aren’t we involved in this?” retired Trinity art teacher Mark Marietta remembers his superintendent asking him in 2005. At the time, he was head of the school’s art department and admits he didn’t know much about Scholastic, but that question “moved it way up on our list of priorities.”
Marietta joined the crew of educators that makes this exhibit happen each year and now goes to schools to be its cheerleader. “I tell administrators one word from you could be enough to motivate a teacher to get involved,” Marietta said.
“There are 72 schools in our three-county region and typically around 30 schools participate. We would love to see more schools become part of Scholastic. It’s so good for the students,” Boyles said.
National Scholastic art and writing winners will be announced in March and will be recognized in June at Carnegie Hall in New York City. Works will be exhibited at the Parsons School of Design and Pratt Institute. Last year, 320,000 works were submitted regionally, and more than 2,500 were chosen for national recognition in 29 categories, from plays, short stories, music and poetry to painting, printmaking, photography, architecture and video gaming.
The exhibit at Mandarino Library is open to the public during library hours and will close on Feb. 12 with an awards ceremony that includes keynote speaker Lyssa Current, a 2015 Charleroi graduate who was a national award winner and now studies art at Temple University.
This year’s gold key winners will again be on display at Artbeat Gallery in Waynesburg, starting with an opening night on Feb. 17 from 6 to 8 p.m. and running through March 10.