Alliance for Young Artists & Writers Names Aldine ISD Student Freddy Díaz a National Silver Key Winner
Award recipients join a legacy of celebrated individuals including Andy Warhol and Stephen King.
Aldine HS’ Freddy Díaz (right) poses with his art teacher Birgit Langhammer. He earned recognition for his photograph titled “The Origins of Color.” His work is seen directly above them on the wall.
[dropcap color=”#888″ type=”square”]T[/dropcap]he Alliance for Young Artists & Writers (the Alliance) announced the national 2017 Scholastic Art & Writing Awards recipients.
The Awards recognizes creative teens in grades 7-12. It is the nation’s longest-running, most prestigious recognition program. The students advanced from a [icons icon_name=”icon-external-link” icon_size=”14px”]regional competition sponsored by Harris County Department of Education.
“The Origins of Color” by Freddy Díaz
Across the nation, students submitted a record-breaking 330,000 works of art and writing for adjudication at the regional level events.
The Awards’ 29 categories include poetry, photography and sculpture. Other categories include editorial cartoons, video game design and more.
The Alliance also partners with art institutes, colleges and universities. They earmark scholarships for college-bound Scholastic Awards recipients.
Only the top 1 percent of students’ works earned recognition at the national level.
This year, the Alliance recognized about 2,500 students nationally as medalists.
National medalists from Harris County increased from 50 in 2016 to 59 in 2017. Gold medalists, the top award, more than doubled in Harris County, increasing from 12 in 2016 to 28 in 2017.
Aldine ISD student Freddy Díaz‘s photograph titled “The Origins of Color” received a national Silver medal. Freddy attends Aldine High School. His art teacher is Birgit Langhammer.
Since the program’s founding in 1923, the Awards have fostered the creativity and talent of millions of students, including renowned alumni who have gone on to become leaders in their fields, including Andy Warhol, Truman Capote, Richard Avedon, Philip Pearlstein, Sylvia Plath and Robert Redford. More recently, Stephen King, Richard Linklater, Zac Posen, and Lena Dunham received Scholastic Art & Writing Awards when they were teens. This year, the renowned American artist, writer and publisher Paul Chan will receive the Alumni Achievement Award.
The Alliance will honor National Gold Medalists, Gold Key Portfolio awardees and Silver Medal With Distinction students at the National Ceremony set for June 8 in New York City’s Carnegie Hall.
Congratulations!
Aldine ISD students have received national American Visions Awards. In 2015, [icons icon_name=”icon-external-link” icon_size=”14px”]José Gutiérrez from Davis HS won the Award for his digital artwork “Line Up.”
Nimitz High student [icons icon_name=”icon-external-link” icon_size=”14px”]Jazzman Washington’s “Dragon Mask” won the American Vision Award in 2014.
In [icons icon_name=”icon-external-link” icon_size=”14px”]2016, Carver HS student Cynthia Coronado and Plummer Middle School student Lionel Green received national Silver Key awards.
About the Author: Leticia Fehling
