Nebraska Young Artist Awards seeks talented high school juniors

Nebraska Young Artist Award applications are due Dec. 9.
Nebraska Young Artist Award applications are due Dec. 9.

The Hixson-Lied College of Fine and Performing Arts is seeking applications for the 20th annual Nebraska Young Artist Awards.

The Nebraska Young Artist Awards annually recognize 11th grade students from Nebraska who are gifted and talented in the areas of visual art, dance, music, theatre, and film and new media. These students exemplify the pinnacles of creativity in one of the fine and performing arts.

For the areas of music, dance, theatre and film & new media, students must submit an application online, which includes uploading a sample of their work and a letter of recommendation from a teacher. Full instructions for the online application process are available at http://go.unl.edu/nyaa.

The Visual Art component of our Nebraska Young Artist Awards is changing this year so that we can better showcase the most promising young artists from around the state of Nebraska. The School of Art, Art History & Design is excited to announce the Nebraska Young Artist Awards/ Statewide Invitational Exhibition, which will be on display at the School of Art, Art History & Design’s Eisentrager-Howard Gallery in Richards Hall in March 2017.

Every public and private school in Nebraska is eligible to nominate one visual art student to the Nebraska Young Artist Awards/Statewide Invitational Exhibition.

The School of Art, Art History & Design faculty will then jury the exhibition and select the recipients of the Nebraska Young Artist Awards. Those winners will be announced at a reception on March 10, 2017, and they will be invited to the Hixson-Lied College’s Nebraska Young Artist Awards Day.

The deadline for online applications and nominations is Friday, Dec. 9, 2016. Visit http://go.unl.edu/nyaa for full instructions and a link to the online submissions in Slideroom.

The winning students will be invited to a special day of recognition on Wednesday, April 5, 2017.

Honored students will take tours of the arts facilities, attend classes, meet faculty and college students and have lunch. Their parents will also be invited, and they will also take tours, as well as receive information on careers in the arts and college curriculum. The day will conclude with an awards ceremony.

Students selected to participate in the Nebraska Young Artist Awards will also be asked to nominate the teacher who provided them with the greatest amount of mentoring and support in the development of their special talents.

For more information or questions, contact Kathe Andersen at (402) 472-9355 or e-mail kandersen1@unl.edu.