Ninety (90) Young Artists Recognized by the Southern Kentucky Performing Arts Center (SKyPAC) for their Original Works
Bowling Green, KY — Wednesday, February 10, 2016 — The Southern Kentucky Performing Arts Center (SKyPAC) has announced the regional award recipients of the 2016 Scholastic Art & Writing Awards whose award winning works will be on exhibit in the 
SKyPAC Main Gallery and Wedge Children’s Gallery now through March 25, 2016 with an award ceremony and reception honoring the students on Saturday, March 5, 2016 from 2:00 PM – 4:00 PM.
Presented by the nonprofit organization, the Alliance for Young Artists & Writers, the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards are the country’s longest-running and most prestigious award and recognition program for creative students in grades 7–12. This program year, nearly 320,000 works of art and writing were submitted to 100 Affiliate Partners across the country. Ninety (90) creative teens in south central Kentucky received regional honors from SKyPAC the local Scholastic Affiliate, including:
Barren County Middle School (Art Teacher: Marla England) – Chelsey Bragg, Honorable Mention; Nataly Holman, Honorable Mention
Bowling Green Christian Academy (Art Teacher: Gloria Carrico) – Sydney Denton, Honorable Mention
Bowling Green High School (Art Teacher: William Stinson ) – Hampton Buchanan, Silver Key; Madeleine Jones, Gold Key and Silver Key; Ellan Luna, Gold Key and American Visions Nominee; Anna Mguyen, Honorable Mention; Taylor Rogers, Gold Key and Honorable Mention; Jeremy Schaefer, Silver Key; Alesis Thomas, Honorable Mention; Kalei Valery, Gold Key and American Visions Nominee
Butler County High School (Art Teacher: Catron Burdette) – Hallie Berry, Silver Key; Sara Santilli, Honorable Mention; Harlie VanMeter, Gold Key and Silver Key; Carelissa Young, Silver Key
Caverna Middle School (Art Teacher: Patricia Rice) – McKeeya Faulkner, Honorable Mention
Caverna High School (Art Teacher: Patricia Rice) – Tanner Cahoe, Silver Key; JoyBeth Heberly, Gold Key and Silver Key; Cole McMahon, Honorable Mention; Skylar Stockton, Honorable Mention; Makayla Wilson, Honorable Mention
Drakes Creek Middle School ( Art Teacher: Kandice Kilcoyne) – Emilee Arnold, Silver Key; Mckenzie Eversoll, Honorable Mention
Greenwood High School (Art Teacher: Kim Soule) – Molly Anderson, Honorable Mention; Jeanette Harris, Silver Key; Linzie Holland, Honorable Mention; NaTassja Jackson, Honorable Mention; Christian McDaniel, Honorable Mention; Hser Moo, Honorable Mention; Keiko Nishijima, Honorable Mention; Madison Phillips, Honorable Mention
Home School (Art Teacher: Amy Cobb) – Kassidy Cobb, Honorable Mention
Muhlenberg County High School, East (Art Teacher: Amber Midkiff ) – Noah Hernandez, Silver Key and Honorable Mention; Summer Peyton, Honorable Mention; Sarah Phelps, Gold Key
Muhlenberg County High School, West (Art Teacher: Kimberly McClellan- White) – Destiny Anderson, Honorable Mention; Gillian Bledsoe, Honorable Mention; Sarah Cox, Silver Key and Honorable Mention; Michael Groves, Gold Key; Noah Hagy, Honoarble Mention; Haley Hernandez, Gold Key and Honorable Mention; Alexis Jessup, Gold Key and American Visions Nominee; Malachi Kramer, Honorable Mention; Will Lewis, Honorable Mention; Taryn Mercer, Honorable Mention; Hope Mohon, Honorable Mention; Ethan Sparks, Silver Key; Courtney Stanley, Gold Key and Silver Key; Bryan Vincent, Honorable Mention; Corbin Wolstenholm, Gold Key
Ohio County High School (Art Teachers: Farrah Balhasen and Tara Maikranz) – Fox Bratcher, Honorable Mention; Jasmin Bratcher, Honorable mention; Emily Conley, Honorable Mention; Marci Dant, Honorable Mention; Alexis Haynes, Gold Key; Madelyn Maikranz, Gold Key; Jacob Marret, Honorable Mention; Ethan Rhodes, Silver Key; Shelby Roller, Gold Key; Ashley Schell, Gold Key and Honorable Mention; Adri Shultz, Gold Key and Honorable Mention; Christopher Smith, Silver Key; Danielle Stephens, Silver Key
Ohio County Middle School (Art Teacher: Katrina Bullington) – Alisa Blankenship, Gold Key and Honorable Mention; Brianna Henderson, Honorable Mention; Chloe Durham, Silver Key and Honorable Mention; Ivee Looberding, Silver Key; Andrea Lopez, Honorable Mention; Madison Moorman, Silver Key; Sarah Morris, Gold Key; Klemmer Nicodemus, Silver Key; Andi Wilson, Honorable Mention
South Warren High School (Art Teacher: Paul Johnson) – MaKenzie Clark, Gold Key and Honorable Mention; Brooke Clark, Gold Key and American Visions Nominee
Warren East Middle School (Art Teacher: Missi Carini) – Alexia Barnes, Honorable Mention; Madeline Chapman, Gold Key; Mackenzie Colter, Honorable Mention; Brooklyn Cox, Honorable Mention; Leach Fowler, Honorable Mention; Haley Kane, Silver Key; Katherine Kinser, Gold Key; Matthew McDaniel, Gold Key; Elise Oppelt, Honorable Mention; Meghan Pierce, Silver Key; Savena Skees, Silver Key; Elijah Whittle, Gold Key
“I look forward to the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards program each year,” said Jessica Snodgrass, SKyPAC Marketing and Visual Art Gallery Manager and a Scholastic alumna. “I remember receiving my Gold Key pin in 8th grade when I was a participant and to now be a Scholastic Affiliate representative through SKyPAC with the opportunity to award young students who have demonstrated exceptional artistic talent is a gift,” Snodgrass mentioned. “We are very passionate at SKyPAC about exposing students in south central Kentucky to this visual arts program and encouraging teachers to submit their students artwork each year. Scholastic is a very prestigious program and it is an honor to be able to continue providing access to our regional schools and students,” added Snodgrass.
The award winning artworks will be on exhibit now through March 25, 2016 in the SKyPAC Main Gallery and the Wedge Children’s Gallery. An award ceremony and reception honoring the students will be held on Saturday, March 5, 2016 from 2:00 pm – 4:00 pm in the Laura G. Turner Lobby at SKyPAC.
The SKyPAC galleries are free and open to the public Monday through Frid
ay 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. For more information about how your students can participate in next year’s Scholastic Art & Writing Awards program please contact our Marketing and Visual Art Gallery Manager, Jessica Snodgrass, by phone at 270-904-5001 or email jsnodgrass@theskypac.com.
About the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards
Since the program’s founding in 1923, all works are blindly judged based on originality, technical skill, and the emergence of a personal vision or voice. For Gold Key works of art and writing in the Awards’ 29 categories including photography, poetry, sculpture, humor, video game design, and more, the opportunities for recognition will continue when the works are adjudicated again on a national level by a panel of leading creative professionals.
“Year after year, I am astounded by the groundswell of creativity that pours out of students from every corner of the country through the regional Scholastic Art & Writing Awards,” said Virginia McEnerney, Executive Director of the Alliance for Young Artists & Writers. “This program develops young talent through this first act of recognition here at home—a defining moment of validation on students’ journeys to personal and professional success—then again on the national level by opening the doors of opportunity for exhibition, publication and access to millions of dollars in scholarships.”
All students who receive Scholastic Art & Writing Awards walk in the footsteps of notable Scholastic Awards Alumni who have gone on to become leaders in their fields, including Andy Warhol, Truman Capote, Richard Avedon, Sylvia Plath, and filmmaker Ken Burns, all of whom received Scholastic Awards when they were teens. More recently, Myla Goldberg, Richard Linklater, Zac Posen, and Lena Dunham have become celebrated Alumni of the program. National Gold Medalists will be honored during a special awards ceremony at the world-famous Carnegie Hall in New York City and all National recipients are eligible for a wealth of additional opportunities such as inclusion in the Art.Write.Now.Tour traveling exhibition and The Best Teen Writing anthology. National Medalist poets are considered for the National Student Poets Program, the nation’s highest honor for young poets presenting original work.
The Alliance is grateful for its generous sponsors, who provide funds to support and produce the Awards: Scholastic Inc., The Maurice R. Robinson Fund, Command Web Offset Co., The New York Times, Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP, The National Endowment for the Arts, Blick Art Materials & Utrecht Art Supplies, The Herb Block Foundation, RBC Capital Markets, Neiman Marcus, Bloomberg Philanthropies, Golden Artist Colors, The Gedenk Movement, the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs; numerous other individual, foundation, and corporate funders; and, for the National Student Poets Program, the Institute of Museum and Library Services and the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities.
A complete list of 2016 regional Scholastic Art & Writing Awards recipients will available online at artandwriting.org on Monday, February 8, 2016. To learn more about the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, visit the online Scholastic News Room at mediaroom.scholastic.com/artandwriting.
