YoungArts and a National Award for Artists Aged 15-18

It all started with President Jimmy Carter who issued an Executive Order to expand the United States Presidential Scholars Program to include the visual and performing arts and creative writing. This happened in 1979.  At first, the Educational Testing Service that administers the SAT’s was responsible for running the competition. Soon however, Ted and Lin Arison gave a 5 million dollar donation to establish the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts and took over the competition in 1981.

From there the competition has turned into a mentoring, community building and development program for young artists and has helped thousands of performing, visual and literary artists aged 15 to 18 compete. YoungArts has led many of them to earn United States Presidential Scholars in the Arts Awards. The next competition will be held on January 4th- 11th, 2026.

Upon winning this award young artists are eligible for mentorship and a $10,000 prize. Ted Arison believed strongly that the arts were important to the nation.

“I think that the arts are the soul of our nation. I felt that the arts had almost become an endangered species and I realized, especially with young people, that YoungArts will ensure the future of our soul,” he is quoted as saying on the organization’s website.

YoungArts features 10 disciplines: classical music, dance, design, film, jazz, photography, theater, visual arts, voice, and writing. From the competition the alumni and other members of YoungArts have created a series on HBO entitled YoungArts Masterclass. A documentary was also created entitled Rehearsing a Dream that was made about the foundation. For more information visit youngarts.org.