Upper School Visual Arts students earned 35 regional honors at the 2026 Scholastic Art and Writing Awards in the Los Angeles Region, with three students advancing to the national level.
Presented by the Alliance for Young Artists and Writers, the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards are among the nation’s most prestigious recognition programs for student creative work. At the regional level, students are recognized with Honorable Mention, Silver Key, or Gold Key distinctions, with Gold Key recipients advancing to national adjudication, where a select group of national finalists is awarded Silver or Gold Medals and honored at Carnegie Hall in June.
This year, Sierra Canyon students earned 7 Gold Keys, 9 Silver Keys, and 21 Honorable Mentions across Photography, Film and Animation, Drawing, Painting, Mixed Media, Writing, and Architecture and Industrial Design. Three students reached the national stage and earned Silver Medals in their respective categories:
- Churan (Olivia) M. ’27: Silver Medal, Architecture and Industrial Design — Wooden Structure Translation: A Multi-functional Wooden Structure at the Foot of the Ming City Wall
- Ruozhen (Sophia) R. ’26: Silver Medal, Writing (Personal Essay & Memoir) — Seeing Without Sight
- Jack L. ’27: Silver Medal, Photography — SMOKE BREAK
See the full list of Los Angeles regional award recipients below.
| Gold Key | Category | Artwork Title |
|---|---|---|
| Jack L. ’27 | Photography | SMOKE BREAK RAIN |
| Luxe H. ’29 | Photography | The Beauty of Being Unseen |
| Ruozhen (Sophia) R. ’26 | Photography Writing | Blue Beyond Seeing Without Sight |
| Sophie D. ’29 | Photography | Tourist Attraction |
| Churan (Olivia) M. ’27 | Architecture and Industrial Design | Wooden Structure Translation: A Multi-functional Wooden Structure at the Foot of the Ming City Wall |
| Silver Key | Category | Artwork Title |
|---|---|---|
| Aiden G. ’26 | Mixed Media | Sekhmet Tore My Skin to Make it Mine |
| Andre M. ’27 | Photography | Untitled |
| Mac K. ’27 | Photography | Good old days History's backdrop, Humanity's story |
| Nuodi (Laura) S. ’28 | Photography | Under the Sea |
| Ruozhen (Sophia) R. ’26 | Photography | Pixelated Me Running Toward Tomorrow Arches of Ages Geometry of Light |
| Honorable Mention | Category | Artwork Title |
|---|---|---|
| Aiden G. ’27 | Mixed Media | Nit Remembered My Fingers Ma'at Weighed Down My Wings |
| Dean G. ’26 | Film and Animation | The Mighty Plains: A Joshua Tree Montage |
| Helena De F. ’28 | Photography | Lifted |
| Jack L. ’27 | Experimental Photography | SOLDIER LIQUID METAL |
| Jintian (Tina) G. ’29 | Painting | Sunset Glow |
| Kenneth S. ’27 | Photography | 1 |
| Kunyu (Yuki) X. ’27 | Drawing | Decay |
| Mac K. ’27 | Photography | Rome's fashion God's creation across the sea |
| Nuodi (Laura) S. ’28 | Photography | Where the Waves Remember |
| Qinru (Alysa) M. ’28 | Painting | Gold Deer |
| Riley A. ’29 | Photography | Where the Sun Meets the Sea |
| Ruozhen (Sophia) R. ’26 | Photography | Golden Haze The Smiler and the Sneak In the Glow of Music Debris in Ashes Sunlit Gallery When the Wild Looks Back |
| Weston C. ’27 | Photography | Randy |
At Sierra Canyon, the Arts program empowers students to develop both technical skills and an authentic creative voice through hands-on exploration. Opportunities like the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards allow students to share their work on a broader stage, reinforcing a program designed to support meaningful artistic expression beyond the classroom.
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