The National YoungArts Foundation announced Nov. 17 the names of 691 most promising young artists of the nation in the literary, visual, design and performing arts, and at least 18 Indian American high-school students are among the winners selected from 40 states. The 2017 winners are all in the age group of 15 -18 or are in grades 10 to 12.
Indian American talents who have been selected in the 2017 YoungArts competition include: Panteha Abareshi (finalist, visual arts); Priyanka Aiyer (finalist, writing/poetry); Renuka Belwalker (honorable mention, dance/classical Indian); Shreya Bhadriraju (finalist, voice/soprano); Samyuktha Hari (honorable mention, dance/classical Indian); Swathi Jaisankar (honorable mention, dance/classical Indian); Jahnavi Kalyan (merit, dance/classical Indian); Ananya Kumar-Banerjee (merit, writing/creative non-fiction); Nicholas Padmanabhan (merit, classical music/guitar); Isha Parupudi (honorable mention, dance/classical Indian); Nivedita Ravi (merit, voice/soprano); Avik Sarkar (merit, classical music/composition); Ravi Sharma (honorable mention, jazz/guitar); Santosh Sharma (honorable mention, jazz/tenor saxophone); Amir Siraj (finalist, classical music/piano); Thalia Suri (honorable mention, visual arts); Priya Thomas (merit, writing/short story and finalist, writing/selection from novel); and Maya Tripathi (honorable mention, photography).
YoungArts Winners receive cash awards of up to $10,000, mentorship and training from acclaimed artists, opportunities to participate in YoungArts programs, and guidance in taking important steps toward achieving their artistic goals, according to a press release. It also added that these young talents, who represent the top 8.67 percent of applications, were selected through a blind adjudication process conducted by an independent panel of highly accomplished artists.
This year’s finalists have the opportunity to participate in the 36th annual National YoungArts Week in Miami from Jan. 8 to 15, 2017, where the artists across ten disciplines will participate in master classes and workshops with internationally recognized leaders in their field, including YoungArts Legacy Master Teachers artistic director, choreographer and dancer Bill T. Jones, and celebrated photographer Sylvia Plachy, among others.
Throughout the week, the finalists’ work will be further adjudicated to determine additional award levels.
All the winners join YoungArts’ expansive alumni network of leading professionals such as actors Viola Davis and Kerry Washington; musicians Conrad Tao and Jennifer Koh; and recording artists Josh Groban and Chris Young.
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