Sandy Hook Teen Vocalist Receives National Award At ARTS Week 2001

Grant Skinner, baritone and senior at Newton High School, feels he’s “grown in many ways” after participating in an unforgettable event. Grant attended ARTS Week 2001 in Miami in January, the final judging phase of the 2000-01 Arts Recognition and Talent Search (ARTS), a program of the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts (NFAA). Grant received a Level II Award for his work as a vocalist.

He was one of 125 young artists selected from a pool of over 6,500 applicants from across the US who traveled, all-expenses-paid, to Miami, to attend ARTS Week 2001. At ARTS Week they were evaluated for unrestricted cash awards and recognition through a series of performances, master classes, seminars, and workshops conducted by well-known artists and arts educators.

Grant is a senior at Newtown High School. He is a National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS) 2000 winner. He plans to pursue a degree in vocal performance and has applied to the Manhattan School of Music, the Curtis Music Institute, and the Juilliard School. 

“I enjoy that music is a sharing activity,” says Grant. “It allows me to make connections... I sing in many different languages and styles.”

Grant says his time at ARTS Week has helped him grow as an artist.

This year ARTS Week was particularly special because it kicked off NFAA’s 20th anniversary of supporting young artists. The week culminated with its annual gala saluting the 125 ARTS Week Awardees and thanking late ship builder, philanthropist Ted Arison and his wife Lin, for founding NFAA. As part of the tribute to the Arisons, the first-ever Arison Award was presented to producer, arranger, and musician Quincy Jones, who later thrilled the young ARTS Awardees by spending time with them. The Arison Award will be given annually.

Each year through ARTS, exceptionally talented young artists have access to an award package totaling up to $800,000, $3 million in scholarship opportunities, and the chance to be named Presidential Scholars in the Arts and be honored by the President at a White House ceremony. As the only nominating body to the White House Commission on Presidential Scholars for Presidential Scholars in the Arts, NFAA nominates up to 50 of the top 2001 award recipients to the Commission. Twenty ARTS Awardees will ultimately be named Presidential Scholars in the Arts.

NFAA granted $272,800 in cash awards as a result of ARTS Week 2001. Arts Level I recipients earned $3,000; Level II, $1,500; Level III, $1,000; Level IV, $500; and Level V, $100. NFAA also awarded 288 Honorable Mention awards ($100) and 188 merit certificates to young artists who were deserving of recognition, but not invited to ARTS Week.