This year marks the 100th anniversary of the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards! I cannot tell you how much this program has meant to so many young talented artists in our region. Hosting the awards for the last two years, after a long hiatus from not being available to our region, has had a profound impact the young artists from our community who have participated. The 2023 exhibition will be at the Downing Museum April 25th-May 27th.
After the pandemic, I could see that our children needed a healthy and productive outlet to voice their emotions, so why not bring back the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards to give students a chance for expression. The work I have seen come from these extremely intelligent and talented children these last two years has been some of the most profound work I have ever seen. The work was tragic, chaotic, beautiful, triumphant, liberating, and meaningful. All children, but especially this group due to limitations the pandemic created, deserve the recognition and opportunity that arts and humanities bring. Most notably, the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards.
You might be asking, “Why is this program so important?” “Isn’t displaying art just for the sake of having beautiful work to look at?” “How could this possibly make a difference in our community?”
From the outside, it’s easy for some to write off arts & humanities as something frivolous, merely creating pretty things to hang on a wall. Oh, but how wrong they are.
Exposing children at a young age to the arts is imperative to developing self-awareness. They are able to explore and express their feelings in a healthy and productive way. They are also able to find themselves through the act of artmaking.
According to Claudia C. Mincemoyer, Ph.D., Director of Better Kid Care Program at Penn State (2016), she explains that children learn how to plan, problem solve and think critically when they are working with art materials. Essentially, they are exploring and learning about the world around them. Artmaking and creative work can give children the chance to make informed decisions. Now apply that through the course of a child’s developing years into adulthood.
Not only do the arts play a key role in the overall health and development of a person, but according to artincontext.org (2022), it serves as a bridge to connect different cultures, races, religions, and languages. It can express common morals, values, and allows us to become more empathetic and how to relate to one another as human beings. When we allow art to become a vessel of communication and a mode of connection, we allow for an overall healthier and more productive community!
Our artistic community needs the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards to endure. Our children need this program to continue. This program provides more than just national recognition. It paves the way for their future careers and dreams. Scholastic provides scholarship opportunities such as the Portfolio Scholarship, providing high school seniors with up to $12,500 for college tuition. And The Herblock Award for Editorial Cartoons, awarding up to $1,000 in prizes. But it doesn’t stop there. They have opportunities for educators in residency programs, and chances for traveling exhibitions in Washington D.C.
For this program to endure, this is where YOU can make a difference. We have opened this program to sponsors for the 2024 Scholastic Art & Writing Awards for South Central Kentucky. Without the support of our community, the Downing Museum will no longer be able to host this exciting and invigorating program next year. If you would like to take the time to become a sponsor, whether individually or your business, please reach out to us. As a 501(c)(3) charitable organization, your gift is fully tax-deductible. Your support for local and regional art matters to our children and our growing community, and for that, we thank you.
If you are ready to take the steps to help this program stay in South Central Kentucky, please contact:
Emily Hendricksen
Current Scholastic Affiliate Coordinator, South Central Kentucky Region
Assistant Curator, Downing Museum
Mailing address: 4801 Morgantown Road, Bowling Green, KY 42101
Make checks payable to: The Jerry E. Baker Foundation
Donate online at: www.jerryebakerfoundation.org
-submitted by Emily Hendricksen
Assistant Curator, Downing Museum & South Central Kentucky Scholastic Affiliate Coordinator
