Nine Governor’s School students recognized in national YoungArts competition

Christina Vandiver

Congratulations to 2022 YoungArts Winner

Each year the National YoungArts Foundation holds one of the largest arts competitions for 15-18-year-old students that identifies the most accomplished young artists in the literary, visual and performing arts from around the country. Winners are chosen for their caliber of artistic achievement by esteemed discipline-specific panels of artists through a rigorous blind adjudication process. This year, nine Governor’s School students were recognized, including four finalists, who placed among the 720 winners and thousands of applicants nationwide.

YoungArts winners
YoungArts Winners from left to right: Deirdre Hickey, Grace Warren-Page, Christian Moody, Youjaye Daniels, Néoma Sanchez and Karolina Montalvo. Winners not pictured are alumni Madyson Grant and Kirby Wilson, and former student Remaliah Smith.

Christian Moody and Néoma Sanchez were named Theater finalists; Youjaye Daniels, Writing finalist in Poetry and honorable mention in Creative Non-fiction; Kirby Wilson (Class of 2021), Writing finalist in Creative Non-Fiction; Remaliah Smith, Music honorable mention in Voice; Grace Warren-Page, Writing honorable mention in Poetry and merit award in Short Story; Madyson Grant (Class of 2021), Writing merit award in Short Story; Deirdre Hickey, Writing merit award in Creative Non-fiction; and Karolina Montalvo, Writing merit award in Creative Non-Fiction.   

YoungArts award winners at all levels receive cash prizes between $100 and $10,000. In addition to monetary awards, all winners receive a medallion, a lifetime of creative and professional support, and access to YoungArts Post—a private, online portal for YoungArts artists to connect, share their work and discover new opportunities.

Finalists are invited to participate in National YoungArts Week in January 2022, where they will be offered virtual classes, workshops and mentorship from professional artists. They will also be able to exhibit or perform their work to the public and compete for higher honors. 

A complete list of the 2022 winners is available online at youngarts.org/winners.