NSAL DC Award for Excellence in the Arts (AEA) Program
AEA Honors High School Juniors for Artistic Merit
The 2023 AEA ceremony is in planning for the spring at a venue and date to be announced
The AEA program is unique among NSAL chapters. NSAL DC member Helen Henderson inspired our chapter to recognize area high school juniors with an Award for Excellence (AEA) or a Certificate of Merit. Each year, the AEA program recognizes more than 120 juniors from some 30 high schools.
There is no charge for schools or students to participate in AEA.
These honors are announced early during students’ junior year. As such, they can serve as a point of distinction on resumes and college applications. In addition, each year student honorees are recognized during a gala ceremony, in April or May, usually at the Kennedy Center.
The AEA recognizes students in NSAL’s 6 artistic categories: visual art, dance, drama, literature, music (instrumental and vocal) and musical theatre.
In the January-February timeframe, high school faculty nominate junior-year students who excel in any of six artistic disciplines. They collaborate to select one Award for Excellence honoree and up to three Certificate of Merit honorees from each school.
There is a tradition during the awards ceremony of inviting those who were honored during their junior year to perform or display their artwork as seniors. All honorees and merit recipients honored as juniors the previous year are invited to audition or submit art.
Auditions are held in February-March yearly. Honorees and faculty are alerted about auditions and visual art display opportunities via email in January. There is no charge to audition. Those interested in auditioning or displaying art should complete the form on this site, which is posted in January.
Tickets to attend the AEA are free, but must be requested in advance.
School administrators or teachers interested in having their schools participate in AEA should contact: Seth Arenstein (sethygee@gmail.com)
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