18 Livingston Teens Win Prestigious Awards For Their Art; 4 Get Highest Honor

LIVINGSTON, NJ — A slew of talented Livingston teens were recently recognized in the art competitions of the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, the nation’s longest-running scholarship and recognition program for creative high school students.

Some of America's most celebrated artists and artists have received honors in Scholastic's contests while they were teenagers, including Andy Warhol, Zac Posen, Idelle Weber, Ken Burns, Luis Jiménez, and Kay WalkingStick.

Four LHS students took top honors this year by winning Gold Key Awards in their respective categories in the regional competition. They will now compete nationally.

The following students are taught by Arlene Brown:

GOLD KEY

• Ben Akyureklier - Dinner Time
• Sophie Grabelle - Buzz Buzz
• Sophia Shkolnikova - Two Lucky Fellows

SILVER KEY

• Cezar Regala - Toro Nagashi

HONORABLE MENTION

• Isabella Farron - A NY Journey Home
• Gabriel Fleisher - Marking my Terf
• Esther Lasser - A lonely Road Home
• Mellissa Mager - Crazy Shananigans
• Katherine Riccardi - Tunnel Vision
• Tyler Wolf - Road to Peace

The following students are taught by Deniz Olcay:

GOLD KEY

• Chunxiao (Lisa) Lu, "Embrace darkness"

SILVER KEY

• Romila Kaushik, "Drawer"
• Jayla Kramer, "Divine"
• Katherine Li, "Clairvoyance"

HONORABLE MENTION

• Priyanka Agarwal, "Teapot"
• Dana Saparova, "Pressure"
• Jodi Tang, "Dreamy Bathroom"
• Yunfeng (Alex) Wu, "Paradise"

See some of the art here.

The mission of the competition is to identify, inspire, and validate the next generation of artists and writers.

Each year, a panel of jurors, consisting of artists, photographers, designers, educators, and curators reviews thousands of works of art submitted by students in grades seven through 12 in the area.

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