South Lakes has a strong reputation for its visual art program, and this year’s sweep at the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards was no exception. Senior Grayson Quigley not only received a Gold Key for his photography portfolio, the highest honor of the competition, but also a $1,000 scholarship from the Reston League of Artists for his work in the arts.
To say this is a tremendous honor is an understatement at best. The Scholastic Art and Writing Awards is one of the most prestigious competitions in the country for creative teens. At the regional level, writing and visual art submissions can be awarded Honorable Mentions, Silver Keys, or Gold Keys, the last being the most selective honor. While the majority of entries are individual works, high school seniors can also submit a portfolio of six cohesive works with written statements. The judging process is extremely rigorous; this year, only 176 works received Gold Keys from more than 4,000 entries from the Fairfax County Public School region. Additionally, out of all the portfolio submissions, only two Gold Key portfolios were selected for the Reston League of Artists scholarship.
With such success, most would expect Quigley to be a veteran at his craft. But surprisingly, he only picked up photography in his sophomore year to fill up an elective spot. However, what started as a throw-away class quickly turned into a newfound love for photos. “People don’t realize how expansive photography can be,” Quigley said. “There’s so many ways to express yourself and play with the elements of photography and really explore who you are.”
This was Quigley’s first year submitting to the Scholastic Awards. With the guidance of the South Lakes photography teacher Heather Warstler, he created a series of portraits that explore human emotion through the motif of eyes. The Scholastic award ceremony for Fairfax County was held in the Northern Virginia Community College Ernst Community Cultural Center, where all Silver and Gold Key winners displayed their work. Quigley was “in awe” seeing the excellence of everyone’s work, and he stood side by side with other Gold Key portfolio winners in a special ceremony. Under the bright spotlight of the stage, Quigley was awarded the $1,000 scholarship, which includes a one-year membership to exhibit his art with the League of Reston Artists.
According to Quigley, the affirmation from the award was invaluable. “I’m always so doubtful of my own art…every artist kind of hates what they create after a certain amount of time,” he said, reflecting on the positive feedback he received from that night. “It was really encouraging to see other artists my age encouraging me.” Quigley’s portfolio will continue to be judged on the national level for additional awards and scholarships of up to $12,500.
Even though 2024 was Quigley’s first and final year in the Scholastic Awards, this is only the start of his photography journey. After graduation, Quigley will attend Christopher Newport University to major in English and minor in photography. “I’m always open to changing my mind about my major,” Quigley noted. “But I definitely want to keep photography in there.”
