Walgreens is pleased to announce the winners of its 12th annual Expressions by Walgreens national art challenge. The competition encourages high school students to create entries in the areas of visual arts, spoken word, and media arts. Monetary awards are given to first, second and third place winners in each category. This year the contest drew in close to 3,400 entries, and a national panel of judges blindly voted to select category winners.
Expressions by Walgreens Art Challenge Announces 2022
“Walgreens congratulates this year’s winners and every student who entered the Expressions Challenge,” said John Gremer, Walgreens senior director, community relations. “We’re honored to recognize their talents, and we applaud all of the teachers, family, friends and mentors who encouraged them to use their voices. It’s a joy to extend Walgreens commitment to building healthier communities through an effort that inspires youth to positively engage in self-expression.”
In addition to the category awards, one submission receives the “People’s Choice” award for garnering the most public votes, and for the past two years, two students have been selected for “Heritage Awards”—one from Chicago and one from St. Louis—to recognize the markets where the contest first launched. This year Expressions by Walgreens unveiled a new award category, Teachers’ Champions, recognizing four educators who support teens through their classrooms and mentorship. Following are award recipients in all categories:
| Visual Arts | ||
| First: | “Avoidance”, Isabela Arca, Van Nuys High School, Sherman Oaks, CA | |
| Second: | “Cyclic”, Deeksha Bompada, Independence High School, Frisco, TX | |
| Third: | “Helping Hands”, Chloe Jung, Bergen County Academies, Closter, NJ | |
| Spoken Word | ||
| First Place: | “Keep Dreaming Kid”, Makhia Smith, Central High School, Memphis | |
| Second: | “Let Your Life Speak”, Cydney Brown, Abington Friends High School in Philadelphia | |
| Third: | “Be A Man”, Zachary Emmons, Gorham High School, Gorham, ME | |
| Media Arts | ||
| First: | “Why Is She Never Enough?”, Emma Stevens, Gorham High School, Gorham, ME | |
| Second: | “Success Under Stress”, Curan Bassingthwaite and Allie Light, Gorham High School, Gorham, ME | |
| Third: | “Break Free!”, Vegas Chiddick, Frank Sinatra School of the Arts, Bronx, NY | |
| Peoples’ Champion: “My Soul is Awakened”, Lilit Hovespyan, Kealakehe High School, Kona, HI | ||
| Heritage Award | ||
| Chicago: | “Death and Life of an Overachiever”, Raina Ford, Fenwich High School, Oak Park, IL | |
| St. Louis: | “My Mind’s Ablaze”, Abigail Nguyễn, Parkway South High School, Ballwin, MO | |
| Teachers’ Champions | ||
| – Ms. Lucinda Stein, Gorham High School, Gorham, ME | ||
| – Ms. Austin Dorval, Edgewater High School, Orlando | ||
| – Mary Rossi, Chicago High School of Agricultural Science, Chicago | ||
| – Dana Ziegler from Arbor View High School, Las Vegas |
Walgreens launched the Expressions art challenge to encourage teens to voice what’s important to them through the arts to capture benefits of self-expression. Since its inception in 2009, Expressions has reached more than one million student participants through 1,000 partnering schools and civic groups and awarded more than $350,000 in prizes. To learn more about Expressions by Walgreens please visit us online at Expressions by Walgreens.