Award-Winning Artwork by Wisconsin Students Showcased in Annual Milwaukee Art Museum Exhibition

Milwaukee, Wis. – February 3, 2020 – Award-winning art created by more than 300 local students is on view at the Milwaukee Art Museum, as part of the 2020 Scholastic Art Awards: Wisconsin Exhibition. Taking place Feb. 1 through March 15, 2020, in the Museum’s Schroeder Galleria, the juried exhibition showcases works by students in grades 7–12 from nearly 100 schools across the state.

“We are thrilled to once again showcase the fantastic talents of young artists around Wisconsin,” said Brigid Globensky, Barbara Brown Lee senior director of education & programs, Milwaukee Art Museum. “The Scholastic Art Awards give students an important opportunity to be recognized for their work, as well as help them on their journeys as artists.”

Winners were selected out of more than 3,300 total submissions in categories that include Industrial Design, Ceramics & Glass, Printmaking, Jewelry, Video Games, Painting and Photography, as well as Future New, a category added for 2020. Future New highlights works that challenge category boundaries and address contemporary and social concerns through forward-thinking mediums, site-specific installations and experiential and conceptual art.

The 177 student artists who received Gold Key Awards will compete for Silver and Gold Medals at the national level, in New York City, later this year. The 242 Silver Key Awards denote statewide recognition for each artist. Award ceremonies will be held at the Museum on Saturday, Feb. 8, at 11 a.m., 1 p.m. and 3 p.m., and the public is welcome to attend.

The Milwaukee Art Museum has hosted the Scholastic Art Awards for the Wisconsin region since 1976. The program acknowledges excellence in the visual arts and encourages the artistic efforts of young people throughout the United States. Past award winners go on to achieve distinction in the fine arts, applied arts and design, often crediting their success to early recognition they received as part of the program. A number of artists represented in the Museum’s Collection were Scholastic Art Award Winners, including Richard Avedon, Nancy Burkert, Robert Indiana and Andy Warhol.

Admission to the 2020 Scholastic Art Awards: Wisconsin Exhibition and the award ceremonies is free for all visitors and does not require a Museum admission ticket.

This exhibition is presented by the Heller Foundation and Mary Ellen Heller in memory of Avis Heller, the City of Milwaukee Arts Board and the Wisconsin Arts Board, Peter and Debra Johnson, Vanguard Computers Inc., CompURent and an anonymous donor.

Exhibitions are made possible by the Milwaukee Art Museum’s Visionaries including Debbie and Mark Attanasio, Donna and Donald Baumgartner, John and Murph Burke, Sheldon and Marianne Lubar, Joel and Caran Quadracci, Sue and Bud Selig and Jeff Yabuki and the Yabuki Family Foundation.

Supporting events 

Gallery Talks
Thurs, Feb 27, 5:30 p.m.
Sat, Feb 29, 1:30 p.m.

Meet at the south end of Schroeder Galleria.

About the Milwaukee Art Museum 

Home to a rich collection of more than 30,000 works of art, the Milwaukee Art Museum is located on the shores of Lake Michigan. Its campus includes the Santiago Calatrava–designed Quadracci Pavilion, annually showcasing three feature exhibitions, and the Eero Saarinen–designed Milwaukee County War Memorial Center and David Kahler‒designed addition. In 2016, after a yearlong renovation, the Museum reopened its Collection Galleries, debuting nearly 2,500 world-class works of art within dramatically transformed galleries and a new lakefront addition. This reimagined space also allows for the presentation of additional changing exhibitions. For more information, please visit: mam.org.

NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. It has not been verified for its accuracy or completeness.