Senior Gabe Kolodner was nominated for the prestigious American Visions award by the Alliance for Young Artists and Writers, Thursday, Feb. 29. This nomination qualified Kolodner for the national competition, where he won a national silver medal on June 12 for his photography.
The ceremony for the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards was held at Tufts University and was accompanied by an art exhibition. Kolodner’s award winning photography was displayed which he also delivered a speech at.
According to fine and performing arts teacher Thomas MacIntyre, “Gabe is a very motivated student, and he’s amazing at photography. He’s passionate about it, and he works really really hard.”
“I talked a lot about the fact that if I had not had had the instruction and help from Mr. MacIntyre, I probably would not have gotten the award, and in general I would be a lot worse of a photographer if not for him,” said Kolodner.
The Scholastic Arts and Writing Awards allow creative teens in grades seven through 12 to compete to receive recognition for their talent for arts or writing, like Kolodner. The awards acknowledge students’ skills by scholarships, nominations, regional and national awards.
Kolodner’s photograph “Insomniac” won him two honorable mentions, two silver keys, and impressively, three gold keys, one of the gold keys- securing his national nomination. “Insomniac” features his little sister holding a stuffed teddy bear, standing in a hallway, and looking anxiously into a door to her parents’ room, portraying the relatable situation of a kid not being able to fall asleep.
“I was trying to make the audience feel nostalgic of the feeling kids experience of isolation,” said Kolodner.
Kolodner has been taking photographs since he was five years old, and he has followed that passion of photography through high school and says he plans to continue following it post-high school.
Kolodner’s hard work earned him one out of five spots in the Massachusetts region for the highly competitive American Visions award.
