Nine students in the High School Visual Arts Program at UNCSA have won 13 awards in the 2024 Mid-Carolina Scholastic Art Awards. The students collected five Gold Keys, six Silver Keys, and two Honorable Mentions.
Serving students and educators from central North and South Carolina, the Mid-Carolina
Scholastic Art Awards are hosted by the College of Arts + Architecture at UNC Charlotte.
The ceremony for regional Gold and Silver Keys awards was held virtually on Feb. 12,
2024. The national awards will be announced in March.
The winning artwork will be on display starting March 1, 2024, through April 14, 2024,
at the Mint Museum Uptown in Charlotte, North Carolina. Visitors will have the opportunity to see the Gold
and Silver Keys in person and admission will be free.
“We are very proud of our students’ performance in this year’s Mid-Carolina Region
of the Scholastic Art awards,” said Assistant Dean and Director of Visual Arts Will Taylor, who is a professor of drawing in the UNCSA School of Design and Production. “It is a true honor for them to be recognized by a jury of museum curators, university
professors and professional artists for their dedication, strong work ethic and artistry.”
Submissions are evaluated in numerous categories, including design, digital art, mixed
media, painting, sculpture, and ceramics and glass. The entries are classified according
to media, then sorted by grade level. Panels of regional jurors, made up of museum
curators, college and university professors, professional artists, and veteran K-12
art teachers evaluate the work in a blind judging process.
Winners include:
Katherine “Arlo” Garretson, Winston-Salem:
Gold Key for Drawing & Illustration, “The Jar”
Chaeeun Yoo, Charlotte, North Carolina:
Gold Key for Drawing & Illustration, “Look At What You’ve Done”
Finch Kortus, Chapel Hill, North Carolina:
Gold Key for Photography, “Tension”
Silver Key for Photography, “Honey,” “Torn and Held” and “Mother of the Void”
Mila Mazur, Asheville, North Carolina:
Gold Key for Photography, “Labor of Love”
Alexander Turpin, Raleigh, North Carolina:
Gold Key for Digital Art, “Tiny Cyborg”
Silver Key for Drawing & Illustration, “Punk Lobotomy”
Molly Poland, Trinity, North Carolina:
Silver Key for Drawing & Illustration, “In Sickness and in Health”
Shya Chakeres, Chapel Hill, North Carolina:
Silver Key for Portfolio, “Divine Feminine”
Maxwell George, Lexington, North Carolina:
Honorable Mention for Photography, “Perception”
Shaun Kawalec, Winston-Salem, North Carolina:
Honorable Mention for Portfolio, “Perspectives”
About the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards
The nation’s longest-running, most prestigious recognition program for creative teens,
the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards were founded in 1923. Notable winners have included
artist Andy Warhol, sculptor Luis Jiménez, photographer Richard Avedon, artist Kay
WalkingStick, author Stephen King and director Ken Burns.
About the UNCSA Visual Arts Program
The UNCSA Visual Arts Program enrolls high school juniors and seniors who commit to
a rigorous course of study in design, drawing, sculpture and art history. Graduates
of the program have continued to pursue their interest in the fine arts at universities
such as Virginia Commonwealth, Kansas City Art Institute, Maryland Institute College
of Art, Rhode Island School of Design, School of Art Institute of Chicago, Ringling
College of Art and Design, School of the Museum of Fine Art – Boston and College for
Creative Studies.
