On January 26th the 2023 Scholastic Art Awards were given out. In Massachusetts there were 7,363 entries and 508 gold medals given out. Out of those 508 medals, Junior Samantha Johnson won two, with her amazing pieces ¨J as in Johnson¨ and ¨Crunchin´ and munchin´ ¨!
The entries were picked without the knowledge of students gender, age, and ethnicity. In total there were 508 Gold medals, 733 Silver medals, and 1119 Honorable Mentions given out. The award ceremony is being held March 18th for all the winning recipients and their work will be displayed at Breed Hall at the Tufts Medford Campus from March 18-25th.
Out of OA, Samantha Johnson was one of the students who won the most gold medals. Samantha says ¨I chose to enter the pieces I did was because I wanted to submit works that I was proud of. These two projects took me the longest to make¨.
J as in Johnson: Samantha was inspired to create this piece because of her last name Johnson. Samantha feels¨I am glad I chose the “J”; it has more personal meaning¨. Samantha is also strong with charcoal, ¨It is one of my stronger mediums¨ she says. Samantha states that this piece is¨my mom’s favorite project of mine, so I knew I would submit that one just for her¨.
Crunchin´ and Munchin´ : To Samantha this piece ¨is the piece that I feel the most connected to as it demonstrates my experience during finals last year¨ she says. ¨During finals last year I’d stay awake until midnight cramming in studying for exams the next day¨ Samantha states, this signifies the “crunchin” in the title. ¨The “munchin” comes from constantly buying Hilliards chocolate bars during school and eating them as my midnight study snack¨Samantha says.
Samantha’s work, along with the other gold medalists, is still being reviewed at the national level by a group of creative professionals. The group will announce the National Medalists on Wednesday, March 23, 2023. We wish Sammy the best of luck!