Scholastic Art & Writing Awards
The nation's longest-running and most prestigious recognition program for creative teens, with the Belin-Blank Center serving as the Iowa and Midwest Region-at-Large Affiliate.
- Grades 7–12
About
The Belin-Blank Center is proud to serve as the Iowa and Midwest Region-at-Large Affiliate for the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards program. As Affiliate for these regions, we accept art and writing submissions, judge those submissions, hold an awards ceremony recognizing regional winners, and provide summer programming for talented young artists and writers.
About the Awards
The Scholastic Art & Writing Awards program is the nation's longest-running, largest, most prestigious recognition program for creative teens. For the past 100 years, the Awards have recognized and encouraged artists and writers such as Sylvia Plath, Andy Warhol, Truman Capote, Robert Redford, Tom Otterness, and Zac Posen, among countless others.
Students who earn Honorable Mention, Silver, or Gold Key Awards in either Art or Writing in the Iowa or Midwest Regions will be recognized at the Scholastic Celebration, and all participants are invited. The Celebration also recognizes the teachers who are listed on the submission forms of student pieces. In all, over 1000 students and almost 500 teachers are invited to attend the event.
Gold Key works automatically advance to national judging. National awards will be announced at artandwriting.org.
Timeline
- Submissions open: October 1, 2026
- Submissions close: December 7, 2026
- Regional awards announced: TBD
- Iowa and Midwest Regional Celebration: TBD
- National awards announced: TBD
How to Apply
Every year, we accept and judge submissions to the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards from Iowa and the Midwest Region-at-Large.
To submit your work, you will first need to visit the national Scholastic Art & Writing Awards website. There, you will find important dates and instructions for signing up to participate in the competition.
Past Award Winners
More Past Winners
Contact Us
Questions? For the fastest response, please email scholastic@belinblank.org.