Top Honors for Venice Arts Students at YoungArts and Scholastic Art & Writing Awards
Angela and Arthur, two dedicated teen photographers at Venice Arts, were happy enough to have been selected as “Finalists” for the national YoungArts Awards. This meant that they were two of only eight teen photographers, and two of 170 teen artists—out of 10,000 applicants—selected as Finalists, nationwide. They received an all-expense-paid trip to Miami in January to study with master artists, meet other young artists, and exhibit their work. But the news gets better: Today Venice Arts learned that Angela was awarded the Gold Award, which gives her $10,000 toward college, among other things. Arthur won the Silver, which gives him $5,000. In addition to these impressive accolades, Angela has also been nominated for the US Presidential Scholars Program, is a semi-finalist in photography for the Music Center's 26th Annual Spotlight Program, and was nominated for the LOOKbetween program by an editor at the Aperture Books, who saw Angela’s work at YoungArts in Miami.
These awards were just a few of recent accolades that Venice Arts’ students have garnered. Three students received the prestigious Scholastic Art & Writing Awards. Leo is a Gold Key Winner in Photography in the Single Image category; Angela is a Gold Key Winner in Photography in the Portfolio category; and Tal is a Gold Key Film Category Winner for his Documentary Film “Right Here on Venice Pier.” In addition to these awards, two student-made films, “Religious Debate" by Venice Arts’ students Jimmy and Slater, and Tal’s “Right Here on Venice Pier” have been selected by juror Chris Strompolos to be included in the Extremely Young Film Festival. They will screen at the Museum of Fine Arts Houston on Saturday, March 1st.
These awards speak not only to the incredible talents to these students, but also to the dedication of the artists and mentors at Venice Arts, who work so hard to connect low-income kids to the opportunities that they deserve, and to support, cajole, and love them through the process!
Image: by Angela, age 17