By Caleb Youngblood, Public Relations Coordinator
February 10, 2025
Savannah Massey of Pelahatchie, Mississippi from The Mississippi School for Mathematics and Science has been named a 2025 YoungArts winner with distinction in writing, the highest honor of the organization. Massey has been recognized for the caliber of her artistic achievement and joins more than 800 of the most accomplished young visual, literary, and performing artists from throughout the country. YoungArts award winners are selected through a highly competitive application, which is reviewed by panels of esteemed, discipline-specific artists in a rigorous adjudication process. 2025 YoungArts award winners join a community of artists who are offered creative and professional development support throughout their careers. A complete list of the 2025 winners, all 15–18 years old or in grades 10–12, is available online at youngarts.org/winners.
“We’re thrilled to award our largest-ever cohort of artists, selected from a record-breaking number of applications this year,” said YoungArts President & CEO Clive Chang. “We hope this recognition provides these young people with the encouragement to keep pursuing their artistry, and the assurance that YoungArts will be there as a source of support and community for the rest of their lives.”
As a winner with distinction, Massey was invited to attend the National YoungArts Week, held January 5-12, 2025, in Miami. Reflecting on her experience at the event, Massey shared, “YoungArts was absolutely incredible. Every night, you watch a different group or genre perform their amazing work. Everyone there is so smart and talented.” During the week, participants had the opportunity to share their own work, which was further evaluated for cash awards of up to $10,000; experience interdisciplinary classes and workshops; and receive mentorship from leading artists in their fields. 2025 winners with distinction were able to learn from notable artists such as ballerina Misty Copeland, dance artists Rashaun Mitchell and Silas Reiner, actress Lorna Courtney, multidisciplinary artist Brian Ellison, and National Bestselling Author and Filmmaker Abigail Hing Wen.
Massey’s poetry, in particular, received significant recognition. “The judges’ favorite piece of my work was a poem titled Eden, Mississippi,” she said. “The poem was a winner of the Ephemera Prize of 2025 here on campus as well as other awards and publications.” Her success at YoungArts included a cash prize of $3000 for her outstanding work.
Following National YoungArts Week, Massey is eligible to be nominated to become a U.S. Presidential Scholar in the Arts, one of the highest honors given to high school seniors by the President of the United States. YoungArts, the sole nominating agency, nominates 60 artists to the White House Commission on Presidential Scholars, from which the 20 U.S. Presidential Scholars in the Arts are selected.
All YoungArts award winners have demonstrated exceptional technique, a strong sense of artistry, and an extraordinary commitment to developing their craft. This year, winners were selected from nearly 11,000 applications across 10 artistic disciplines – classical music, dance, design, film, jazz, photography, theater, visual arts, voice, and writing. Each award winner will receive a monetary award of $250.
For the duration of her career, Massey is eligible for exclusive creative and professional development support, microgrants and financial awards, and presentation opportunities in collaboration with major venues and cultural partners nationwide; and become part of an intergenerational network of more than 22,000 past award winners. 2025 YoungArts winners also have the opportunity to participate in YoungArts Labs, all-expenses-paid learning intensives with field-defining artists in Los Angeles, New York, and Nashville.
As a YoungArts award winner, Massey joins a group of accomplished artists such as Daniel Arsham, Jon Batiste, Terence Blanchard, Camille A. Brown, Timothée Chalamet, Viola Davis, Amanda Gorman, Denyce Graves, Judith Hill, Jennifer Koh, Tarell Alvin McCraney, Andrew Rannells, Desmond Richardson, Jean Shin, Hunter Schafer, and Shaina Taub.
The YoungArts competition is open to artists 15-18 years old (or in grades 10–12). For more information about becoming a YoungArts award winner, visit youngarts.org.