Beginning in 1923, the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards have, “recognized the vision, ingenuity, and talent of our nation’s youth, and provided opportunities for creative teens to be celebrated.” Presented by the Alliance for Young Artists and Writers, the awards are given to students who have created and submitted works with exceptional creative talent. Featured students may receive not only recognition, but also have their works put on exhibition, published, or even be considered for scholarships. This past year, more than 320,000 original works were submitted across the Awards’ 29 categories. This increasingly-large submission pool made the awards that West Bloomfield High School Senior, Abigail McManaman, received, incredibly admirable.

McManaman was awarded three Gold Key awards for her paintings “Bliss in Ignorance” and “Janelle,” (pictured below) and her portfolio, a Silver Key award for her drawing titled “Fade,” and an Honorable Mention for her painting, “404.” Additionally, her painting “Bliss in Ignorance” won an American Vision Award. The College for Creative Studies (CCS) describes the American Vision Awards as, “chosen as the ‘Best of Show’ from all of the artwork entered in this year’s Southeastern Michigan Regional competition. Each regional program across the country selects the five most outstanding works of art from their Gold Key recipients. These five young artists represent the region on the national level as American Vision nominees. A national panel selects one of the nominated works from each region as the American Vision Award Recipient for 2016.”

“Bliss in Ignorance”

“Janelle”

“Breakthrough”

“Watched”