Submissions are now open! Good luck!
Hey guys, I am writing this post to inform
high school and middle school students about a competition I stumbled upon this year that had a lot to offer.
Many of you may be familiar with the Scholastic Art and Writing awards. Each year these awards recognize thousands of artists and writers nationally, bringing them attention, scholarships and prizes.
Well, starting last year they added a video game category within the art section, allowing students grades 7-12 to enter their work.
I personally entered and won 2 of the 25 national gold medals for my games Kinetics and Sandy Evolution. It was a good experience and opportunity, so I want to share it with you guys as I haven't seen much of anything about it in the community.
So here ill break down what this contest as to offer:- You can enter any game you wish, and as many as you wish, free. (You can also collaborate)
- They are first judged by region, and then if you recive a gold key, you are judged nationally.
- If you receive a National Gold medal, you are invited to go to NYC and accept your award at Carnegie Hall. You also receive decent exposure, opportunities, and a fun time!
- 2 winners are chosen to receive 1000$, 2,500$ in scholarships, and a laptop.
- As a national winner, if you are planning on attending an Art school, please try and enter this! I received a ton of hefty scholarship offers to various art schools due to these awards, which is another good outcome.
Here are the concerns/cons associated with it:- You have to be sponsored by a teacher (not a negative, just something to know)
- The process is a bit of a hassle and hard to find information on. I was running around everywhere trying to submit my work as the website and help is all focused on art and writing not the "new" video game category. If you decide to do this and end up in this boat, email me!
- The New York trip and whole scene is entirely focused on art and not gaming, so it may not be your thing. (your not required to go if you win either.) They mention the gaming awards, but that's about it. But when you go you can check out Babycastles or the No Quarter event at NYU instead! (That's what I did!)
-They have some harsh terms of agreement when you submit your work; however, they are not out to steal your stuff. Because the terms were written in the context of physical work such as sculpture, paintings, or drawings, they seem ridiculous in the context of videogames. Because they showcase winners work for 2 years after the contest, they request all the rights to your work, the right to alter and modify it, among other things. This is simply because they want to showcase winners work, put frames around it, maybe at a title to it (modify), etc. Unless your planning on selling your game, I wouldn't be too concerned.
Here is a link to the website:
http://www.artandwriting.org/Here is a link to the registration system:
http://www.artandwriting.org/RegistrationCurrently the registration isn't open, but since there is no theme associated with it I figured I would post and get people aware of the opportunity. The category is new, and I did hear various remarks hinting at a possibility of the category not returning due to funding issues or something. This is doubtful, but thought I would mention.
I'm pretty sure that the submission period starts mid September and ends in January.
Overall, I would certainly recommend entering! For the most part it was a great experience that had some nice perks for entering. If you have any questions you can post here or email me; I had a ton and couldn't get any replies from them!
I will bump this topic when registration opens as well. I hope this can help some of you out!
Cheers!
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