News : Local teen artists honored; Kreutner invited to Carnegie Hall

Sarah Kreutner earned many awards and was invited to Carnegie Hall for her photo.

Amanda Dedrick with VSHS art teacher Ann Diedrichsen at the Scholastic award event.

Amanda Dedrick's Gold Key painting.

Sophia throws a leaf at her sister: Sarah Kreutner's award-winning photo.

Two local teenage artists have received top honors at the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards event, and one of them will be recognized at Carnegie Hall in a few weeks.

Sarah Kreutner won several honors, including the American Vision Nomination as one of the top five works in each region. She and her family will travel to New York City for a special ceremony at Carnegie Hall on June 2.

Sarah, the daughter of Brian and Jen Kreutner of rural Vinton, is also the reigning Benton County Fair Queen. She is among the youngest members of the Vinton Guild of Fine Arts.

A black and white photo of her younger sibling, entitles “Sophia Throws a Leaf at Her Sister,” won the Visions Award, which is equivalent to a Best of Show honor. In addition to the trip to Carnegie Hall, Sarah will also receive a ½ tuition for a week-long summer at came at the University of Iowa.

Her other photo "Summer Chores: Tomato Patch" was awarded the National Silver Medal.
The Nat'l Award Ceremony will be held at Carnegie Hall June 2nd which Sarah & her family will attend.

The Scholastic Art & Writing Awards is a competition for high-school artists. Judging begins at the regional level (our region is the state of Iowa, and our regional coordinator is the Belin-Blank center at the University of Iowa). Regional Awards are: Gold Key (awarded to top 5-7% of entries); Silver Key (top 7-10%); Honorable Mention (top 10-15%); and American Visions or Voices Nomination (the five best entries in art and in writing are chosen for this award). All Visions and Voices Nominees and all regional Gold Keys are then sent to New York for judging. National Awards are: Gold Medal, Silver Medal with Distinction, Silver Medal, and American Visions or Voices Award. The Visions/Voices Award is about like Regional Best-in-Show. Winners of the top National Medals (Gold, Silver with Distinction, or Visions/Voices) are invited to an Awards Ceremony at Carnegie Hall on June 2nd.

At the regional level, Sarah won the most awards of any participatns.

“I won 9 Gold Keys, 9 Silver Keys, 6 Honorable Mentions, and a Visions Nomination in Art (all in Photography), and a Gold Key and 3 Silver Keys in Writing (Critical Essay, Personal Essay, and Poetry),” Sarah explains. She is one of just four Iowa artists and writers invited to Carnegie Hall.

Gold Key in painting for Amanda Dedrick

Another young local artist earned a Gold Key for her painting. Amanda Dedrick’s painting of a man which she entered online. She and VSHS Art Teacher Ann Diedrichsen attended the awards ceremony at the Belin-Blank Center.

Amanda has won many honors for her art work; she has recently been offered a full scholarship to pursue her education and art at UNI.

See more about Sarah's thoughts on her work HERE.

See an interview with Sarah below:

[VIDEO]