The Visual Arts in Pinellas County Schools are nationally recognized because of the district's continuing commitment to the arts. Additionally, due to crucial funding provided by the Pinellas County Schools Referendum and enthusiastic community support, visual arts programs at every level are flourishing like never before!

23-24 Points of Pride

• 3,446 2-D and 3-D artworks were selected for display in over 25 district and county-wide exhibitions at local art museums, art centers, and galleries. 884 art awards were earned by Pinellas County K-12 students!
• 318 middle and high school students earned 454 awards in the Pinellas County Art Region of the Scholastic Art Awards. Over $10,000 in scholarship money, provided by our generous awards sponsors, was earned by Pinellas County students.
• Pinellas County students earned 9 Scholastic Art & Writing Awards National Gold and Silver Medals in 2024, and in the last decade, 138 total National Medals have been earned by creative teens in the Pinellas County Art Region.
• A PCS student won the state-wide Youth Art Month Flag Art Contest and displayed her work at the 2024 National Art Education Association Conference in Minneapolis, MN.
• Pinellas County students had one of the best showings in the state in the annual Florida Art Education Association's K-12 Student Art Assessment and Virtual Exhibition with 66 Awards of Excellence and 19 Awards of Excellence with Distinction. In 2023, PCS students' artwork earned "Best of Show" and won the Elementary division (two of the top four awards) in the state-wide show. In 2022, PCS students won both the Elementary and Middle School divisions. PCS students have earned "The Best of Show" awards five out of the last eight years.
• PCS students earned "The Best of Show" (Congressional Choice Awards) in both the 13th Congressional and 14th Congressional Districts High School Art Competitions for the last two years. The two winning artworks for this year are currently displayed in the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C.
• For the last two years, two of the three top award winners in the Gasparilla Festival of Arts Tampa Regional High School Showcase were PCS students (seven neighboring school districts were invited to participate). In 2022, a PCS student earned one of the top three awards.
• Two PCS schools competed in the 2023 Fifth/Third Bank Bucs Chalk Mural Art Contest in Tampa.
• Four schools competed in the first-ever PCS Chalk Mural Art Contest during the PCS Experience Event in 2024. At this event, 3-D Printing in Art was also offered as a hands-on experience for students and families.
• Pinellas County Schools partnered with the Pinellas Tax Collectors Office in the Kids Tag Art Program for a ninth year. In January, a student awards ceremony recognized participating 5th-grade students’ vanity tag designs. Since 2014, more than $300,000 has been raised for elementary art programs.
• PCS HS Art Teacher Rachel Koral was one of only 50 artists selected from 16,000 submissions worldwide to have her artwork displayed in the 2024 Embracing Our Differences Exhibition. Rachel made a deal with her students that if they entered work, she would, too! Several local news organizations covered it.
• In November, the Clearwater Arts Alliance recognized three students from Clearwater High School for their outstanding artworks as artists and STEAM scholars.
• A PCCA @ Gibbs HS student won 1st place in the 2024 Walker’s Rising Stars Arts HS Scholarship Competition.
• Curlew Creek ES Art Teacher Natalie Steratore was featured in the district’s IT (Inspiring Teachers) Factor series.
• The Pinellas All-County K-12 Art Exhibition, with over 1,500 original 2-D and 3-D works on display throughout the district's Administration Building, is considered the nation's largest annual student art exhibition. These captivating works were created by K-12 art students representing every school in our district. Participating students, their families, friends, art teachers, and administrators are invited to the annual open-house reception event in September.

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