Revere students won over 80 awards by entering original art pieces in the 2014 Scholastic Art Awards, making this year’s contest a success for Revere.

The Scholastic Art Show is a two part competition for middle school and high school artists to enter their own original artwork for judging. There are five awards that can be won in the first part of the competition: the Gold and Silver Key awards, which are first and second place awards; the American Vision Awards, which are five Gold Key awards nominated as “Best of Show”; the Art Scholarship Portfolio Awards and the Honorable Mentions. This year, of the 3866 regional entries, 577 were awarded Gold and Silver Key Awards. At Revere, 19 students received Gold Keys and 26 students received Silver Keys. 122 participants from around the region entered a portfolio into the show, and the judges accepted 12. Of the 12 portfolio winners, two of the awards went to RHS seniors Abby Anacki and Halie Carpenter. Additionally, there were 40 Honorable Mentions awarded to Revere students.

Robert Pierson, who is the AP Drawing and Design teacher, explained how Revere’s results this year compare to years past.

“[Revere] had a very strong year. Our school had more works on display last year but I think a larger percentage of works got in this year,” Pierson said.

Liz Post received one of the American Vision Awards. Photography teacher Paulette Colantone noted that this gives her a good chance of winning a national level award.

“[The judges] choose one of the five recipients of the American Vision Award. If they choose [Liz], she can automatically go to the national show, so we are really hoping she will get in,” Colantone said.

Every Gold Key Award winning piece will be sent for judging to see if they qualify to be in the national show which will take place in New York. Art teacher Sandra Fox explained the judging process.

“The judges are usually college professors so they are very critical and are looking for college quality work. They don’t like work that looks like a class project so we have to be very choosy about what we enter,” Fox said.

Of the many entries into the national competition, Revere has had student artwork sent to the national show several times in the past.

“Approximately 300 works will be chosen for national recognition out of as many as 300,000 entries, and Revere has had five national winning works in the last two years,” Pierson said.

Colantone explained that winning a national award is a high honor.

“If [one] wins nationally, [their] piece will go on tour; there will be a big ceremony at Carnegie Hall. Winners are treated like rock stars,” Colantone said.

When choosing which artworks to enter in to the contest, the students work hand in hand with their teachers to pick the strongest pieces. Colantone and Pierson show their students samples of the previous winning pieces. Pierson noted that this helps the students improve their art skills.

“Much of the winning work is based on technical merit so we try to encourage or get students to hone their art making skills to a competitive level. Just like in music or any other creative endeavor, judges look for technical merit, strong composition and concept,” Pierson said.

The National Scholastic Art Awards will take place June 6 in New York City.