Pinellas Students Earn Scholastic Art Awards

Eleven students, the most ever in one year, from Pinellas County Schools received prestigious national awards for their exceptional artwork through The Scholastic Art & Writing Awards.

According to a school district news release, the 89-year-old national program recognizes outstanding creative teenagers and offers scholarship opportunities for graduating high school seniors.

Nine Pinellas County students earned national awards last year, which was the previous record number of awards.

The nonprofit Alliance for Young Artists & Writers, which administers the annual Awards, will honor national winners during a special ceremony at the world-famous Carnegie Hall in New York City on June 1, the news release said.

Select Award-winning art and writing will be exhibited at Parsons The New School for Design in Manhattan from June 1 through June 16. To kick off the week of celebrations, the Empire State Building will be lit gold in honor of the students’ achievements the night of May 31. 

This year’s local Award recipients are:

• Alexandria Bennett, Grade 12, St. Petersburg High School, received a Gold Medal for her digital art titled, “Johnny From Hati”. Marty Loftus is her art teacher.
• Megan Corley, Grade 10, Clearwater High School, received a Gold Medal for her photograph titled, “Twenty First Century Individualism”. Clayton Burkey is her art teacher
• Katelyn Fitzgerald, Grade 12, St. Petersburg High School, received a Silver Medal for her jewelry titled, “Elegant Hardware”.  Marty Loftus is her art teacher
• Jalyn Fortosis, Grade 12, Osceola High School, received a Silver Medal for her sculpture titled, “Curls”.   Linda Wallen is her art teacher
• Sidney Howard, Grade 12, St. Petersburg High School, received a Silver Medal for her Art Portfolio.  Roxanne McGlashan is her art teacher
• Kira Oglesby, Grade 12, St. Petersburg High School, received a Silver Medal for her Art Portfolio.  Marty Loftus is her art teacher
• John Schmittau, Grade 12, Pinellas County Center for the Arts at Gibbs High School, received a Silver Medal for his Art Portfolio.  Yoko Nogami is his art teacher
• Nathan Solitaire, Grade 12, St. Petersburg High School, received a Gold Medal for his sculpture, “Botox”.  Marty Loftus is his art teacher
• Christopher Watkins, Grade 12, Pinellas County Center for the Arts at Gibbs High School, received a Silver Medal for his Art Portfolio. Alan Johnson is his art teacher
• Lauren Watters, Grade 10, Pinellas County Center for the Arts at Gibbs High School, received a Gold Medal for her drawing titled, “Self Portrait”.  Alan Johnson is her art teacher
• Kanya Wilder, Grade 12, St. Petersburg High School, received a American Vision Medal for her sculpture, “Razor Wave”.  Marty Loftus is her art teacher

The Pinellas Region of The Scholastic Art Awards has been awarded 40 National Awards in the past seven years. The Pinellas Region of the Scholastic Art Awards received 1490 art entries from 698 students for regional judging. The pieces that received top honors locally were submitted for national adjudication by a panel of jurors comprised of artists, authors, educators, and other industry professionals. This year, more than 200,000 submissions were entered and 1,600 have received national recognition.