Each year, The Fine Arts Center Creative Writing and Visual Arts programs encourage their students to submit work to the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards. High School students from across the country create submissions for one or more of the 29 categories of art and writing, with submissions being adjudicated by luminaries in the visual and literary arts, some of whom are past award recipients. Panelists look for works that best exemplify originality, technical skill, and the emergence of a personal voice or vision.

Students receiving Gold Keys, Silver Keys, Honorable Mentions, or American Voices & Visions Nominations are celebrated within their communities through local exhibitions and ceremonies. Gold Key works are then judged nationally by an impressive panel of creative–industry experts to receive National Medals, including Gold Medals, Silver Medals, American Voices & Visions Medals, Gold Medal and Silver with Distinction Portfolio Medals, and Special Achievement Awards. National Medalists are recognized in part at the National Ceremony at Carnegie Hall in New York City.