Maranatha student wins prestigious art award

Jessica Xu, a Maranatha Christian High School junior, recently received a Scholastic Art and Writing Awards silver medal for her illustration titled “Scoliosis.” Winning the medal means she placed in the top 1 percent of submissions.

The national program, funded by the nonprofit Alliance for Young Artists and Writers, is among the most prestigious recognition programs for creative teens in seventh to 12th grade, with a record-breaking 320,000 works of art and writing submitted by students across the nation, according to officials. Categories included poetry, video games, photography, sculpture, humor, editorial cartoons and video game designs.

Xu’s artwork won a Gold Key award at the West Region-at-large competition before being submitted for national adjudication by a panel of jurors that included artists, authors, educators and other industry professionals. All works were evaluated on originality, technical skill and emergence of a personal vision or voice.

Prior Scholastic Art and Writing Award teen recipients have included Andy Warhol, Sylvia Plath, Truman Capote, Richard Avedon, Robert Redford, Lena Dunham and Ken Burns.