YoungArts' National Arts Competition

Are you a 15- to 18-year-old visual, literary, or performing artist?

The 2020 YoungArts competition is now closed.
Applications for the 2021 competition will be accepted beginning June 1 through October 8, 2020. 
APPLICATION INFORMATION

 

ABOUT THE COMPETITION

YoungArts’ signature program is an application-based award for emerging artists ages 15–18 or in grades 10–12 from across the United States. Selected through a blind adjudication process conducted by an independent panel of highly accomplished artists, YoungArts winners receive valuable support, including financial awards of up to $10,000, professional development and educational experiences working with renowned mentors, and performance and exhibition opportunities at some of the nation’s leading cultural institutions. Joining a 20,000-strong alumni community, they receive creative and professional development opportunities and connect with an extraordinarily rich network of peers.

 

PROGRAMS FOR WINNERS:

National YoungArts Week

During this intensive, weeklong and all-inclusive program, Finalists across 10 disciplines participate in master classes and workshops with internationally recognized leaders in their fields and showcase their work to the public at New World Center and the YoungArts campus.

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Regional Programs

Modeled on the transformative experience of its annual signature program, National YoungArts Week, regional programs in Miami, New York and Los Angeles expose audiences to emerging artists from the community and allow winners to take master classes with world-renowned artists and showcase their work through performances, exhibitions, and readings at some of the most prestigious arts institutions in the country.

YoungArts Miami  |  YoungArts Los Angeles  |  YoungArts New York
 

Presidential Scholars Program

YoungArts winners are eligible for nomination as a U.S. Presidential Scholar in the Arts, one of the nation’s highest honors for high school students who exemplify academic and artistic excellence.

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Winners
YoungArts' winners consist of the nation’s most promising young artists in the visual, literary, design and performing arts. Selected from a competitive pool of applications and representing artists from across the country, YoungArts winners gain access to one of the most comprehensive programs for emerging artists in the United States, offering financial, professional and artistic development opportunities over the course of their careers.
 

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Master Artists

YoungArts master artists are some of the most distinguished and accomplished artists in their fields like Debbie Allen, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Jeanine Tesori, Frank Gehry, José Parlá, Mickalene Thomas, Wynton Marsalis and Salman Rushdie. They support YoungArts’ mission to cultivate and inspire the next generation of artists by graciously lending their time and expertise to work with YoungArts participants in each of our ten disciplines.