The Minnesota Region Scholastic Art & Writing Awards 2025 have been announced. The Scholastic Art Awards are open to all students age 13 or older in grades 7-12 from public, private and home schools and community programs serving eligible student populations. Students receive opportunities for recognition, digital exhibition and scholarships. 

Congratulations to the following arts awards recipients: 
Phoebe Balfour ’25—Silver Key, painting, “January Twenty Third, Two Thousand Twenty Four”; Honorable Mention, drawing and illustration, “Cheeri-Oats”
Madeline Hou ’26—Gold Key, drawing and illustration, “Capsulated”
Alvin Liu ’25—Gold Key, photography, “Portrait of a Convenience Store Cashier”; Gold Key, photography, “Portrait of Regulars at a Public Foot Spa”; Gold Key, photography, “Put to Rest at a 7/11”; Silver Key, photography, “Music Party After a Long Day”  
Elise Matney ’30–Gold Key, printmaking, “Buddhist Reflection in Flowers”; Silver Key, design, “Butcher Block Box”; Silver Key, sculpture, “Spoonful of Love”
Isabella Miller ’27—Silver Key, drawing and illustration, “Ethan”; Honorable Mention, drawing and illustration, “Feature”
William Mitchell ’25—Gold Key, painting, “Shitass808”
Alex Rozumalski ’26—Honorable Mention, drawing and illustration, “Bark Louder Than You Bite”
Shiyan Sun ’28—Honorable Mention, drawing and illustration, “My Favorite Noodle” 
Lucy Zhang ’29–Silver Key, drawing and illustration, “Nature's Serenade”

All Silver and Gold Key winners recognized at the 2025 Minnesota Scholastic Art Award ceremony in February.

Writing Award entries in the competition were awarded one of the following distinctions: 

Gold Key: Writing demonstrating the highest levels of achievement in originality, personal vision/voice and technical skill. Gold Key writing is forwarded to New York City for national adjudication. Students are recognized with Gold Key lapel pins and certificates. 
Silver Key: Writing demonstrating achievement worthy of recognition at the regional level. Students are recognized with Silver Key lapel pins and certificates.
Honorable Mention: Art or writing demonstrating creative potential.

Congratulations to the following award recipients:

Naitik Aggarwal ’29—Honorable Mention in flash fiction, “Beyond a Crafter Life”
Minha Ali ’27—Honorable Mention in flash fiction, “Red Wine”
Anna Breyer ’29—Honorable Mention in flash fiction, “A Walk with Champ”
Rhea Farhan ’27—Silver Key in poetry, “Blind Riding”
Ada Friedman ’29—Silver Key in flash fiction, “A Single Choice”
Liam Fuhr ’29—Honorable Mention in flash fiction, “Song of the Night Sky”
Rohan Kavuru ’29—Gold Key in personal essay and memoir, “My Name”; Silver Key in poetry, “Ode to My Laptop”; Honorable Mention in journalism, “Tim Pilquist, a former student of the University of Minnesota, works at Mathnasium in St. Louis Park as an assistant director now”
Chloe Kern ’27—Honorable Mention in poetry, “Seattle”
Sabiha Kojasoy ’29—Silver Key in flash fiction, “Climbing the Staircase”
Alvin Liu ’25—Gold Key in poetry, “A Father’s Childhood”; Gold Key in poetry, “On the Self Immolation of Thích Quảng Đức”; Silver Key in poetry, “Ode to Five More Minutes”; Silver Key in poetry, “Two Erasure Poems From Two Different Translations of a Poem by Li Ba”; Honorable Mention in poetry, “One Summer Afternoon in Beijing”
Nina London ’29—Silver Key in flash fiction, “The Snow is Watching”
Karin Lund ’25—Gold Key in critical essay, “An Internal Conflict of Space and Place: The Ultimate Rejection of Binaries in Ajay Navaria’s ‘Subcontinent’”; Gold Key in critical essay, “Simplifying the Complex: The Reconfiguration of Humanity in Franz Kafka’s ‘A Report for an Academy’”
Elise Matney ’30—Gold Key in personal essay and memoir, “For the Love of Latin”; Gold Key in journalism, “History All Around Us”; Gold Key in personal essay and memoir, “Welcoming Refugees”; Silver Key in journalism, “Female Leaders and Rank Choice Voting”; Honorable Mention in personal essay and memoir, “Back to School Resolutions—Helping Those in Need”; Honorable Mention in personal essay and memoir, “Get Out to Vote”
Isabella Miller ’27—Silver Key in poetry, “Forever Again”
Ela Munankarmy ’29—Gold Key in flash fiction, “My American Ghosts”
Chizoro Nwokocha ’25—Silver Key in science fiction and fantasy, “Exhumation Case Report”
Natalie Palmby ’29—Silver Key in flash fiction, “Red on the Canvas”
Tyler Panetta ’29—Honorable Mention in flash fiction, “The Truth Never Told”
Phoebe Pann ’29—Honorable Mention in flash fiction, “Lonely Depths”; Honorable Mention in poetry, “Poetry”
Josset Pflaum ’29—Gold Key in flash fiction, “Largemouth”
Ellen Rippe ’29—Gold Key in flash fiction, “Robin’s Egg Blue”
Nora Schmitt ’29—Honorable Mention in flash fiction, “My Friend”
Amelia Schwemm ’29—Silver Key in short story, “Revisits”
Pedro Silva ’29—Honorable Mention in flash fiction, “Climbing the Pyramid”; Honorable Mention in critical essay, “The Impact of Airline Monopolization on the Airline Industry and Customer Satisfaction”
Teaghan Smallwood ’29—Honorable Mention in poetry, “Apricot Jam”; Honorable Mention in flash fiction, “No Little Girl Tears Shed at the Piano Outlet Store”
Lilly Tarakji ’29—Silver Key in science fiction and fantasy, “Beneath the Scarlet Sky”
Boone Tutterow ’25—Honorable Mention in critical essay, “Examining the False Civility of Society”; Honorable Mention in critical essay, “‘Be Right Back’: A Cautionary Tale of Technology and Addiction”
Isha Verma ’29—Silver Key in flash fiction, “One Teaspoon”
Caroline Wang ’29—Honorable Mention in flash fiction, “The Starving Artist”
Sophia Widge ’29—Honorable Mention in flash fiction, “Recursion”
Lucy Zhang ’29—Honorable Mention in critical essay, “Beyond the Stars: Is Humanity’s Push to the Stars Too Much?”