Bay Village High School performed exceptionally well this month at the regional Scholastic Art and Writing Awards.
Out of thousands of submissions in the Cuyahoga County area, Bay Village students claimed 60 awards, creating writing and art pieces that wowed local judges at the Cleveland Institute of Art.
Out of the 60 awards won by the school’s art and writing department students, 22 were top-level awards, known as gold keys, 14 other awards were silver keys and the final 24 were ranked as honorable mentions.
According to high school Art Department Chairman Thomas Schemrich, every Cuyahoga County school district submitted art and writing to judges for scrutiny.
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The group's talent was fully on display, Schemrich said.
“The amount of talent within this group is exceptional,” he said. “I have no doubt that many of these students will go on to successfully pursue art careers in college and beyond.”
Schemrich noted that the contest's judges are professionals in the art field, rather than random gallery viewers.
Though he admits that art judgment is fully subjective, Cuyahoga County's group of judges at the Cleveland Institute of Art had the credentials to back up their decisions.
"The work is up for between one and three weeks, being displayed with recognition that they won a certain level of acknowledgement from the judges," Schemrich said. "The judges are normally Cleveland area artists, educators, gallery owners; it could be any number of people."
There is a certain percentage decided by the national Scholastic Art and Writing Awards that can win each category of award, he said.
According to the awards' remote program website, only 5% of submissions receive gold keys.
Bay Village students took home five gold keys in the photography department alone, according to a news release from the school district.
Those submissions, along with the rest of the top-level awards in art, now will travel to the state-level competition for Ohio, Schemrich said.
There also is a national level for gold key winners at the state competition.
"It's like the regular year, and then the playoffs," Schemrich said. "The regional is the conference finals, and then we go on to state.
"Gold keys are invited to an awards presentation at Madison Square Garden (in New York City)."
Winners of the final competition at Madison Square Garden receive Olympic-esque gold medals and national recognition, Schemrich said.
However, he said perhaps the most impactful prize is how much the award can impact a student's resume.
"The real big thing about the Scholastics is what it means to you getting into school," Schemrich said. "It proves things that other things just hint at.
"If you make it to the national level and get a gold key, I've had four students go out and get a full-ride scholarship at college."
National gold key winners are few and far between, the "one percent of the one percent," Schemrich said.
However, he said Bay Village's performance as a statistical anomaly helps to speak as a testament of student talents.
"It's a worthwhile endeavor for students to be a part of it," Schemrich said. "Some art teachers shy away from Scholastics because they're worried about hurting a fragile ego.
"But an artist needs to (be) tough enough that he can stand up for his work, no matter what somebody says about it."
