Nine Bridgewater-Raritan High School art students earned 20 honors in the elite 2026 Scholastic Art Awards program.
According to Sarah Nasson, Bridgewater-Raritan High School's Art Teacher and Advisor to the National Art Honor Society, the Scholastic Art Awards are the nation's longest-running and most prestigious recognition program for creative teens, celebrating original student work across visual art, writing, and media arts. Each year, nearly 2,000 students submit artwork to the South Jersey region alone.
The Appel Farm Arts & Music Center, located in Salem County's Upper Pittsgrove Township, in partnership with the Alliance for Young Artists & Writers, presented the Bridgewater-Raritan students with the 2026 Scholastic Art Awards.
Students who win a Scholastic Art Awards' Gold Key are automatically considered for National Awards, including Gold Medal, Silver Medal, and scholarship awards. Gold Key works are being judged at the national level in New York City next month.
Four of the nine Bridgewater-Raritan art students received Gold Keys in the Scholastic Art Awards.
They are Lucia Bolle for "Acceptance", Nana Esquivel-Barrantes for "Obligate Parasite", Suzanne Lu for "Lao-Lao's Rosary," and Julia Li for "What's Cooking?"
Ms. Nasson stated that "students' work was reviewed and recognized by a panel of creative professionals, and awarded for its outstanding merit in originality, skill, and the emergence of a personal voice and vision."
Here are the nine students who were honored and taught by Bridgewater-Raritan High School's Ms. Nasson, Jason Draine, and Angela Morin.
Sarah Nasson's students
Lucia Bolle, Shock Painting - Silver Key
Lucia Bolle, Anguish Drawing - Silver Key
Lucia Bolle, Acceptance Painting - Gold Key - Moving on to Nationals
Lucia Bolle, Purple Dusk Photography - Honorable Mention
Nana Esquivel-Barrantes, Obligate parasite, Mixed Media - Gold Key - Moving on to Nationals
Nana Esquivel-Barrantes, Overwhelmed Appetite Digital, Painting, Drawing & Collage - Silver Key
Nana Esquivel-Barrantes, Homely Haven Digital Painting, Drawing & Collage - Silver Key
Nana Esquivel-Barrantes, Obligatory Inadequacy, Painting - Honorable Mention
Suzanna Lu, Lao-Lao's Rosary, Painting - Gold Key - Moving on to Nationals
Suzanna Lu, The Burden of Growth, Mixed Media - Silver Key
Kajsa Mostow, Midsummer Light, Painting - Honorable Mention
Angela Zhou, Unwind, Painting - Silver Key
Angela Zhou, Thread Between Us, Mixed Media - Silver Key
Angela Zhou, What I Was Made Of, Portfolio Category (Art) - Silver Key
Angela Zhou, Painter's Beagle, Sculpture - Honorable Mention
Leila Zhou, I wish I were a Puppy, Painting - Silver Key
Leila Zhou, Echoes of Adolescence, Painting - Honorable Mention
Jason Draine's students
Julia Li, What's Cooking?, Painting - Gold Key - Moving on to Nationals
Suzanna Lu, Former Lives Digital Painting, Drawing & Collage - Silver Key
Angela Morin's students
Lauren Yang, Cellular Studies: Biological Forms in Clay, Portfolio Category (Art) - Honorable Mention