The Red River Valley Writing Project at North Dakota State University and Plains Art Museum announce more than $2,500 in cash prizes available for teen artists and writers in grades 7-12 who win Gold Key, Silver Key and honorable mention awards during the annual Scholastic Art and Writing Awards.

Students from across the country are invited to submit original artwork and writing. The entry fee is $10 per submission. Fee waiver forms are available upon request. The deadline to submit is Dec. 14. Details on how to enter are available at artandwriting.org/awards/how-to-enter/.

The mission of the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards is to identify teenagers with exceptional artistic and literary talent and bring their remarkable work to a national audience. It is the nation’s longest running and most prestigious scholarship and recognition initiative for creative teens.

“For creative teens in North Dakota, these awards are equivalent to what the state tournaments are for athletes – a recognition of hard work and a showcase of talent,” said Benjamin Melby, director of the Red River Valley Writing Project at NDSU.

The awards have fostered creativity and talent since 1923 for millions of students, featuring an impressive roster of past winners, including Andy Warhol, Truman Capote, Sylvia Plath, Robert Redford and Amanda Gorman.

Kelvin Monroe, Voices of Creative Change coordinator at the Plains Art Museum and adjunct English instructor at NDSU, celebrates “the creative works of youths, which grapple daily with themes, issues, and concerns that embody both the interior dimensions of their humanity as well as the exterior terrain of being human in the world. Our service to them involves, then, reflecting, honoring and engaging their vast expressions of complex-personhood.”

An exhibit of award-winning works is set to be featured at Plains Art Museum’s Starion Gallery beginning in February. The North Dakota state ceremony is scheduled for March 4 at Plains Art Museum, where Gold Key, Silver Key and Honorable Mention recipients will be announced. All Gold Key recipients are forwarded on to the national level. National winners are recognized at Carnegie Hall in New York City