Three young visual artists from Bettendorf, Ames, and Norwalk recognized for outstanding visual arts work
[IOWA CITY, IOWA, February 24, 2025] — The University of Iowa’s Grant Wood Art Colony (GWAC) will award three students from Iowa schools with the Grant Wood Legacy Prize for outstanding visual arts at a writing the University of Iowa Scholastic Celebration as part of GWAC’s annual contest which aims to identify and uplift young artists.
“The Grant Wood Legacy Prize enables the University of Iowa to discover and recognize young Iowa artists to encourage their talent,” said Maura Pilcher, GWAC director.
Current Grant Wood Fellows and practicing artists, Rush Baker, Matthew Willie Garcia, and Lyndsey Scott selected Sherry Tang (Pleasant Valley High School, Bettendorf), Anya Adcock (Ames Middle School, Ames), and Lucas Schnoor (Norwalk High School, Norwalk) as winners for their demonstration of a regional voice and skill.
The judges selected recipients from over 400 visual arts entries from Iowa students in media categories Grant Wood worked on: jewelry, painting, drawing and illustration, printmaking, design, ceramics and glass, and mixed media.
The Grant Wood Legacy Prize is a collaboration with the Belin-Blank Center, the Iowa and Midwest Region-at-Large Scholastic Art & Writing Awards affiliate.
GWAC established the Grant Wood Legacy Prize in 2016 in honor of Iowa’s most famous artist. Grant Wood was a lifelong educator, from his early years teaching at Cedar Rapids’ McKinley Junior High in the 1920s to the Stone City Art Colony of the 1930s until his death while a University of Iowa faculty member. GWAC, committed to continuing the legacy of Grant Wood, promotes Wood’s passion for education and developing young artists.
Grant Wood Legacy Prize winners and their educators will be recognized during Scholastic Art & Writing Celebration on March 8, 2025, on the University of Iowa campus.
Scholastic Art & Writing Awards
The Belin-Blank Center at the University of Iowa recognizes original creative work by Iowa students every year through the Regional Scholastic Art & Writing Awards. This is the country's longest-running and most prestigious scholarship and recognition program for creative students in grades 7–12. This program year, more than 330,000 works of art and writing were submitted to 100 Affiliate regions across the country. As one of the largest national affiliates, the Belin-Blank Center adjudicated over 7,000 pieces of art and writing from the Iowa and Midwest Regions. Since the program’s founding in 1923, the Awards have fostered the creativity and talent of millions of students, including renowned alumni who have gone on to become leaders in their fields, such as Andy Warhol, Truman Capote, Richard Avedon, Philip Pearlstein, and Sylvia Plath. More recently, Stephen King, Richard Linklater, Zac Posen, and Lena Dunham received Scholastic Art & Writing Awards when they were teens.
Sherry Tang, AI: An Artist's Dilemma, Drawing & Illustration. Grade 11, Pleasant Valley High School, Bettendorf, IA. Belin-Blank Center, Affiliate; 2025 Gold Key; 2025 Grant Wood Legacy Prize.
Anya Adcock, Into the Verdant Wild, Painting. Grade 9, Ames Middle School, Ames, IA. Belin-Blank Center, Affiliate; 2025 Gold Key; 2025 Grant Wood Legacy Prize.
Lucas Schnoor, secrets within, Ceramics & Glass. Grade12, Norwalk High School, Norwalk, IA. Belin-Blank Center, Affiliate; 2025 Gold Key; 2025 Grant Wood Legacy Prize.
