3 STMA Students Win Gold Medals In National Art Competition

ST. MICHAEL, MN — Three St. Michael-Albertville High School students are set to have their award-winning artwork displayed in June at Carnegie Hall in New York City.

Livia Proudlock, Sophia Apold and Praise Hanson each won a national gold medal from the Alliance for Young Artists & Writers' Scholastic Art & Writing Awards program.

Apold, a sophomore, earned gold for her painting, titled “The Blue,” while Hanson, a junior, won gold for her “Veiled” photograph, according to the organization.

Proudlock’s “Oz” sculpture earned a gold medal and an American Vision Medal.

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Proudlock, a senior at STMA, told the Press & News that winning two national medals for her sculpture “is pretty much a dream.”

Proudlock, Apold and Hanson were among almost 2,000 students in the U.S. to win national awards from the organization’s Scholastic Art & Writing Awards program, according to a news release. More than 40,000 students received regional recognition, the organization said.

More than 260,000 pieces of art and writing in 28 categories were submitted from all 50 U.S. states, as well as U.S. territories and Canada.

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The awards are meant to “champion and support teens' originality and creative prowess” and “encourage students to build confidence as creative individuals and to trust that their voice is important,” the Alliance for Young Artists & Writers said.

"Each year we are continually impressed by the level of creativity demonstrated by our nation's teens,” Chris Wisniewski, the organization’s executive director, said in the release. “Even more impressive are the individuality, vulnerability, sensitivity and passion reflected in their work.”

Some medalists’ artwork and writing will be displayed at Carnegie Hall again after a two-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The 2022 Scholastic Art & Writing Awards National Ceremony is scheduled for June 9.

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The Scholastic Awards exhibition program displays the award-winning work of gold and silver national medalists at museums, galleries, libraries and other prominent venues, according to the organization.

The Scholastic Art & Writing Awards program also gave $10,000 scholarships to almost two dozen students across the country, including Tess Nelson of Eden Prairie.

St. Michael-Albertville High School received the most awards of any school in the state for the Minnesota Scholastic Art Awards earlier this year, with 140 awards, Press & News reported.