Twenty-Three Students Earn 37 Scholastic Art Awards

Twenty-three Pine-Richland High School students were recently awarded in the 2026 regional Scholastic Art and Writing Awards competition, winning 37 awards for outstanding art achievement.

Seniors Jimena Belda, Aubree Bennett, Lucy Bish, Brynn Bosack, April Derks, Cadence Foote (2), Saija Latta, and Marianna Zahorchak, and junior Abigail Hengelsberg received Gold Key Awards. Gold Key winners move on to national judging, the results of which will be announced in late March.

Silver Key Award winners include seniors April Derks, Saija Latta (2) and Kaylee Koch.

Five students were awarded for their portfolios: senior Cadence Foote earned a Gold Key Award, senior Saija Latta earned a Silver Key Award, and seniors Christina Cilka, Alexis Ross, and Ariella Ruediger earned Honorable Mentions.

Gold and silver award-winning works and winning portfolios will be displayed at Carnegie Mellon University’s Fine Arts Building from February 25 – March 7. Award winners will be honored in a ceremony on March 7.

Since 1923, the awards have recognized some of the nation’s most celebrated artists and writers while they were teenagers, including Tschabalala Self, Stephen King, Kay WalkingStick, José Parlá, Amanda Gorman, Charles White, Joyce Carol Oates and Andy Warhol.

Congratulations to all of our talented student artists!

Jocelyn Adamczyk, 11

• Initial Reflection—Honorable Mention (mixed media)

Madison Began, 11

• New Wave—Honorable Mention (digital painting, drawing and collage)

Jimena Belda, 12

• Public Garden in Madrid, Spain—Gold Key (photography)

Aubree Bennett, 12

• Recharge—Gold Key (comic art)
• Cold As Ice—Honorable Mention (comic art)
• Bus 126—Honorable Mention (comic art)

Lucy Bish, 12

• Nostalgia—Gold Key (photography)

Brynn Bosack, 12

• Deadly Elegance—Gold Key (jewelry)
• Butterwort Blooms—Honorable Mention (jewelry)

Raeden Cicconi, 12

• Stage 2—Honorable Mention (digital painting, drawing and collage)

Christina Cilka, 12

• Residence—Honorable Mention (art portfolio)

Liana DeLisio, 11

• Ignorant Bliss—Honorable Mention (illustration)

April Derks, 12

• Play Time—Gold Key (digital painting, drawing and collage)
• Finger Painting—Silver Key (mixed media)

Amelia Doughty, 11

• Between Stops—Honorable Mention (mixed media)

Cadence Foote, 12

• The End—Gold Key (digital painting, drawing and collage)
• Cycle—Gold Key (art portfolio)
• New Beginnings—Honorable Mention (digital painting, drawing and collage)

Abigail Hengelsberg, 11

• Glued—Gold Key (painting)

Kaylee Koch, 11

• All Consuming—Silver Key (mixed media)

Isaac Kraus, 12

• Bouncing Bliss—Honorable Mention (drawing)

Lexi Kusar, 12

• Wonder—Honorable Mention (painting)

Saija Latta, 12

• Forest Walk—Gold Key (comic art)
• Bug Rider—Silver Key (illustration)
• Story Time—Silver Key (art portfolio)
• Ghoul Quest—Honorable Mention (comic art)
• Puppetry—Honorable Mention (illustration)

Darren Lee, 11

• "Infancy" of Artificial Intelligence—Honorable Mention (illustration)

Dalisay Quemado, 12

• Her Divine Prophecy—Honorable Mention (illustration)

Alexis Ross, 12

• Let's Play Mermaids—Honorable Mention (drawing)
• Damsel in Distress—Honorable Mention (drawing)
• The Feminine Experience: A Horror—Honorable Mention (art portfolio)
• Am I Pretty?—Honorable Mention (drawing)

Ariella Ruediger, 12

• Forced to Watch—Honorable Mention (painting)
• Desired Realities—Honorable Mention (art portfolio)

Mackenzie Williamson, 12

• Rooted Window—Honorable Mention (photography)
• Circus Act—Honorable Mention (mixed media)

Marianna Zahorchak, 12

• Riot Grrrls: Who Are We?—Gold Key (graphic design)