Tallmadge High School junior Tyler Blackiston and senior

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Tallmadge High School junior Tyler Blackiston and senior Kim Coffman were among this year's top award winners in the 85th National Scholastic Art and Writing Competition in New York City to showcase the highest level of achievement in student work. Blackiston received the Gold Award for his drawing entry and Coffman received a Silver Award for her painting.

"Their work represents the 'best of the best,'" said THS art teacher Nancy Jones.

Jones said only Gold Key winners in the 80-plus regional competitions go on for judging at the national level. This year there were more than 3,000 entries from the Northeastern Ohio region and 8,000 art entries at the national level. The submissions are evaluated locally and nationally by a panel of jurors comprising renowned artists, authors, educators and arts professionals. Only the top one percent of the entries in this very competitive selection process receives a national award.

The Gold Award is the highest honor for an individual work of art. Gold Award winning entries will be exhibited at the Reeves Contemporary Gallery in the Chelsea district of New York City during the first week of June. Blackiston's drawing will be considered for exhibition in other venues as well as for reproduction in the annual national catalog, published by the Alliance for Young Artists & Writers, a non-profit organization that administers the program. All Gold Awards are also included in the online galleries at www.artandwriting.org.

Both Coffman and Blackiston are invited to the National Awards Ceremony June 5 in Carnegie Hall. Recipients are also eligible to participate in a series of workshops and studio visits throughout NYC to meet artists and writers to learn about career and cultural opportunities in the arts.

Since its inception in 1923, more than 13 million of the nation's seventh- through 12th-graders have participated in the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards competition. The top award winners have won college scholarships and cash awards. Some of the distinguished past recipients include Joyce Carol Oates, John Lithgow and Andy Warhol.

The Awards program and the work of the Alliance are made possible through the support of title sponsor Scholastic Inc. and the New York Times Co., Command Web Offset, CDW-G, Hewlett Packard and several national foundations.