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Teen Media Awards 2020!

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This moment, unprecedented in our lifetimes, confirms how indispensable creativity is to our life together. A pandemic requires that we navigate new forms of distance—so we explore new ways of forming connection. Young people are leading calls to address systemic inequity and racial violence in the streets and online—and so we ask ourselves, how can the words and images we share shape a moment on which we can build a more just world?

One thing is certain: in the generative tension caused by change, we might discover ourselves. Who can better ground us in that truth than teen creators, already living out the lessons of becoming?

We celebrate our young writers, visual artists, musicians, filmographers and inventors each year with the Ralph Munn Creative Writing Anthology and Labsy Awards. This year as always, Teen creators have invited us to examine what we think we know. They invite us to reflect on beauty, to dwell in complexity, and to celebrate joy where we find it.

Although we aren’t gathering to celebrate in person, it is a joy to celebrate and build with these young people. Thank you, more than ever, for these stunning reminders that the arts offer us vital insights into who we are, and who we hope to become.


Ralph Munn Creative Writing Contest

1st place in Prose “Hip Hop Science” by Ariella Riccobon

2nd place in Prose “Butterflies” by Mia Naccarato

1st place in Poetry “All Unknown” by Aliya Pimental

2nd place in Poetry “Red Yellow Green” by Jayla Andrews

Labsy

1st place in Ralph Munn Cover Art “Captured” by Gianna DiGiacomo

Decoupage art depicting a human face with a multicolored background
2nd place in Ralph Munn Cover Art “Untitled” by Amara Bailey

Black ink drawing of a woman with long black hair. She is facing forward and looking at the viewer. A copy of her face is ripping away from the right side of her head.
1st place in 2D Art “Fed Up” by Anzu Sekikawa

Drawing of a young girl with a mixed ball of red and yellow yarn in her mouth. The yarn is coming out of her mouth in two separate strings. In her left hand, she is collecting the red yarn and in her right hand, she is collecting the yellow yarn.
2nd place in 2D Art “Overzealous” by Alexa Berman

Drawing of two gray hands reaching toward each other. They are surrounded by brown feathers in the foreground and background.
1st place in 3D Art “The Anteater and the Butterfly” by Ariella Riccobon

A collection of pictures featuring the submitted art. On the upper left and right corners are images of the same brightly colored 3D paper anteater at different angles. In the center is an image of three paper cutouts of an anteater and a butterfly. At the bottom are the same three images, but at a closer angle.
2nd place in 3D Art “Butterfly in Copper” by Lilly Zeminski

A high relief copper butterfly.
1st place in Photography “Overcast” by Delia Brown

A photograph of a tall concrete wall with 10 pairs of arms streching upward behind it.
2nd place in Photography “Girl and Snow” by Qingqing Zhao

A photograph of a young girl wearing a red winter hat, a pink scarf and a yellow coat. There is a snowy background and she is turned away from the viewer.
1st place in Filmmaking “Smash Virus” by Oday Abushaban

Check it out here!

A still from the submitter's music video. The image is of a teen in a lab, he has a surgical hat and mask on and is focused on the test tube in his hand.
2nd place in Filmmaking “Tuned Out” by Ariel Cameroe

Click here to watch!

A still from the submitter's film that shows a teen with a purple shirt, a backpack and earbuds in her ears. She's in a city and looks like she's about to cross a street.
1st place in Fashion “Against the Algorithm” by Amital Leibovich

A photograph of a person wearing the dress that was submitted. It is a black, knee-lenth dress with a V-shaped neckline and short sleeves that are loose at the arms.
2nd place in Fashion “Salem Sprout” by Ava Wos

A photograph of a person wearing the submitter's costume. The costume is a white lion wearing a purple cape and a blue shirt
1st place in Invention “Attaché Adagio” by Graciel Leon

Check it out here!

A photograph of the submitter's invention, a blue wooden case can attach to the wall and holds sheet music.
2nd place in Invention “Fruit Craze” by Lamar Abushaban

Watch here!

A still from the tutorial of the submitter's game invention. The image shows text that reads "Setting Up" and below the text are three playing cards in a row, the first one is green with pictures of fruit on it and reads "Honey Buddies Inc.," the middle card is blue with pictures of fruit on it and reads "Blue Burst Farms," and the last card is red with pictures of fruit on it and reads "Apple Acres"
1st place in Music “Cool” by Sloane Simon

Click here to listen!

2nd place in Music “Rain” by Hallie Sufrin

Click here to listen!

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