The Mid-South Scholastic Art & Writing Awards is a competition held annually between residents of West Tennessee, northern Mississippi, and eastern Arkansas, and this year, 12 Owls brought home awards.
Founded in 1965 and open to grades 7-12, the Mid-South Scholastic Art Awards is supported by the family of Marcia Bicks and Derek Fordjour in collaboration with the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art and the Brooks Museum League.
More than 2,000 entries are submitted every year ranging from painting, drawing, mixed media, photography, sculpture, graphic design, film, fashion and senior art portfolios. Regional award-winners are eligible for scholarships, cash prizes and inclusion in an exhibition at the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art. Gold Key awards will even advance to national judging in New York City as well.
The organization awards Gold Keys, the highest award possible, Silver Keys and Honorable Mentions for works that exhibit technical and artistic excellence.
A total of eight MUS students received 10 awards for art:
Will Tom (8) received a Gold Key Award for his “Day of the Dead” drawing, and a Silver Key for his self-portrait.
Banks Boals (8) received a Gold Key of his self-portrait drawing.
Brady Ehrhart (12) won a Silver Key for his photograph “We the People.”
Joseph Zhao (10) won a Silver Key for his mixed media work “Memory of Regret” and an Honorable Mention in Mixed Media for his “Gnawing Away” artwork.
Will Galbreath (8) received an Honorable Mention for his self-portrait drawing.
McClain Bell (7) received an Honorable Mention for his “Luchador Mask” drawing.
Peilin Liu (7) received an Honorable Mention for his self-portrait drawing.
Boyd Blackney (9) received an Honorable Mention for his photograph “Proud Mother.”
MUS students also achieved many writing awards, earning multiple across fiction, memoir, and flash fiction in the Scholastic Writing Awards.
The Scholastic Writing Awards accept many different writing prompts, including critical essay, flash fiction, journalism, novel, personal essay and memoir, poetry, screenplays and scripts, short story, speculative fiction and writing portfolio (for graduating seniors only).
A total of four students received eight awards for their written work. Ike Emmert (11) led the group with five recognitions across two different categories. Emmert won a Silver Key for his flash fiction “Breakfast, 9:42 AM.” He also won a Silver Key for his speculative fiction “Ordinary,” and a Gold Key for his speculative fiction “Post-Mortem Correspondence.” Additionally, Emmert won two Honorable mentions for “The Red Room Project” and “The Autopsy Report” both in speculative fiction.
In addition to Emmert, three seniors earned awards for personal essays & memoirs. Tom Crosby (12) received an Honorable Mention for “Two Facets of Service.” Ashwin Subramaniam (12) earned a Gold Key for “The Indian Basis for Success: Academics,” while Ari Thiyagarajaa (12) received an Honorable Mention for “Self Made.”
The Scholastic Writing Awards look specifically for originality, technical skill, and strong voice across genres. For these MUS students, the results reflected vast styles of writing, and depth of both classroom and independent works.
