Thirty-seven Shady Side Academy students in grades 8-12 won 76 awards in the 2020 Scholastic Art & Writing Awards regional competition, including 45 art awards and 31 writing awards. Fourteen students won Gold Key awards, and their work will advance to the national competition. Two students won awards in both art and writing.

Forty-five art awards were given to 17 students by the Pittsburgh Arts Region: 17 Gold Keys, 9 Silver Keys and 19 Honorable Mentions. Award-winning artwork is currently on exhibit at the CCAC North Campus in McCandless through Saturday, Feb. 22, when an awards ceremony will be held.

Gold Key-winning art students include: eighth grader Alex Chow in Design for Human Use, sophomore Grace Greeno in Future New for Female Irony; eighth grader Sophia Jho in Comic Art for The Secret Life of My Cat; senior Hyelim "Rose" Lee in Mixed Media for Inner Psyche and in Drawing & Illustration for Daytime Drowsiness; junior Bennett Marsh in Ceramics & Glass for Coral Bowl and Black Lotus Platter; freshman Maria Schwendeman in Drawing & Illustration for Waterparks; senior Nina Singh in Photography for Ocean Eye; senior Giri Viswanathan in Photography for Hilfiger, Cablecar and Cycleside; senior Xinran "Nancy" Wang in Painting for Smoke; junior Xinru "Vita" Yang in Photography for Coils; sophomore Anker Zhao in Photography for Tents; and junior Qingqing Zhao in Photography for Girl in Snow and Magnificence. Greeno and Lee were also American Visions Award nominees. (See photo slideshow below of some of the Gold Key artwork)

Thirty-one writing awards were given to 22 students by the Western Pennsylvania Writing Project at the University of Pittsburgh: three Gold Keys, 10 Silver Keys and 18 Honorable Mentions. An awards ceremony was held at Pitt's Frick Fine Arts Building on Saturday, Feb. 15. The three Gold Key Awards were won by eighth graders in the Personal Essay & Memoir category: Edward DeBruce for My Memoir; Leo Rickard for The Heist; and Hari Viswanathan for The Building Blocks of Identity.

Since 1923, the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards have recognized the vision, ingenuity and talent of our nation's youth and provided opportunities for creative teens to be celebrated. Each year, the Alliance for Young Artists & Writers partners with more than 100 visual arts and literary arts organizations across the country to bring the Scholastic Awards to local communities. Teens in grades 7-12 can apply in 29 categories of art and writing for the chance to earn scholarships and have their works exhibited and published. Regional Gold Key works are judged nationally by a panel of creative industry experts, and national medalists are recognized at a ceremony at Carnegie Hall in New York City.

2020 Regional Scholastic Art & Writing Award Winners

• Ariana Barsotti (grade 10) – ART (1): 1 Honorable Mention in Architecture
• Benjamin Bischoff (grade 8) – WRITING (1): 1 Silver Key in Personal Essay & Memoir
• Alex Chow (grade 8) - ART (3) - 1 Gold Key in Design, 2 Honorable Mentions in Drawing & Illustration
• Edward DeBruce (grade 8) – WRITING (1): 1 Gold Key in Personal Essay & Memoir
• Julia Dlugosz (grade 8) – WRITING (1): 1 Honorable Mention in Personal Essay & Memoir
• Jack Engel (grade 8) – WRITING (1): 1 Silver Key in Personal Essay & Memoir
• Caden Green (grade 8) – WRITING (1): 1 Honorable Mention in Personal Essay & Memoir
• Grace Greeno (grade 1) – ART (1): 1 Gold Key in Future New; American Visions Award Nominee
• Gabriela Jegasothy (grade 11) – WRITING (2): 2 Honorable Mentions in Poetry
• Sophia Jho (grade 8) – ART (1): 1 Gold Key in Comic Art
• Max Kaizer (grade 8) – WRITING (1): 1 Silver Key in Personal Essay & Memoir
• Alexa Karet (grade 8) – WRITING (1): 1 Honorable Mention, Personal Essay & Memoir
• Aniket Kumata (grade 12) - ART (1): Honorable Mention in Drawing & Illustration
• Hyelim "Rose" Lee (grade 12) – ART (7): 2 Gold Keys (1 in Drawing & Illustration, 1 in Mixed Media); 3 Silver Keys (1 in Ceramics & Glass, 1 in Mixed Media, 1 in Painting); 2 Honorable Mentions (1 in Ceramics & Glass, 1 in Mixed Media); American Visions Award Nominee
• Abril Linares Mendoza (grade 8) – WRITING (1): 1 Honorable Mention in Personal Essay & Memoir
• Crystal Ma (grade 10) – ART (2): 2 Honorable Mentions in Painting
• Yixuan "Vera" Mao (grade 11) – ART (1): 1 Honorable Mention in Drawing & Illustration
• Bennett Marsh (grade 11) – ART (2): 2 Gold Keys in Ceramics & Glass
• Marnie McCormick (grade 10) – WRITING (1): 1 Silver Key in Poetry
• Caroline McLaughlin (grade 8) – WRITING (1): 1 Honorable Mention in Personal Essay & Memoir
• Max Minard (grade 12) – WRITING (2): 2 Honorable Mentions in Poetry
• Sadie Navid (grade 8) – WRITING (1): 1 Honorable Mention in Personal Essay & Memoir
• Arusha Nirvan (grade 12) – ART (3): 2 Silver Keys in Painting, 1 Honorable Mention in Sculpture
• Leo Rickard (grade 8) – WRITING (1): 1 Gold Key in Personal Essay & Memoir
• Sophia Sandholm (grade 8) – WRITING (1): 1 Honorable Mention in Personal Essay & Memoir
• Elliott Scheri (grade 8) – WRITING (1): 1 Honorable Mention in Personal Essay & Memoir
• Maria Schwendeman (grade 9) – ART (1): 1 Gold Key in Drawing & Illustration
• Madeira Semins (grade 8) – WRITING (1): 1 Honorable Mention in Personal Essay & Memoir
• Paige Shea (grade 11) – WRITING (1): 1 Silver Key in Personal Essay & Memoir
• Nina Singh (grade 12) – ART (3): 1 Gold Key in Photography, 1 Silver Key in Photography, 1 Honorable Mention in Photography
• Giri Viswanathan (grade 12) – ART (5): 3 Gold Keys in Photography, 2 Honorable Mentions in Photography
• Hari Viswanathan (grade 8) – WRITING (1): 1 Gold Key in Personal Essay & Memoir
• Xinran "Nancy" Wang (grade 11) _ ART (3): 1 Gold Key in Painting, 1 Silver Key in Painting, 2 Honorable Mentions in Painting
• Xinru "Vita" Yang (grade 11) – ART (4): 1 Gold Key in Photography, 1 Silver Key in Painting, 2 Honorable Mentions in Painting
• Melody Yuan (grade 10) – WRITING (2): 1 Honorable Mention in Personal Essay & Memoir, 1 Honorable Mention in Short Story
• Anker Zhao (grade 10) – 6 TOTAL – ART (4): 1 Gold Key in Photography, 3 Honorable Mentions in Photography; WRITING (2): 1 Silver Key in Critical Essay, 1 Honorable Mention in Critical Essay
• Qingqing Zhao (grade 11) – 9 TOTAL – ART (3): 2 Gold Keys in Photography, 1 Silver Key in Photography; WRITING (6): 4 Silver Keys (2 in Critical Essay, 2 in Journalism); 2 Honorable Mentions (1 in Critical Essay, 1 in Journalism)

View a photo slideshow of some of the Gold Key-winning student artwork: