Art is subjective, but judges with the Alliance for Young Artists & Writers have specific criteria in mind when it comes to the annual Scholastic Art & Writing Awards.
Excellence in originality, technical skill, and emergence of a personal voice or vision were all used to pick this year's national winners out of nearly 230,000 submissions. Only 1 percent of pieces were deemed worthy of a National Medal Award, with a Christ School senior's painting included in that exclusive group.