$50,000 Scholarship Supports Educational and Artistic Development
MIAMI (March 17, 2025) – YoungArts announces Honor Giardini as the recipient of the 2025 YoungArts Lin Arison Excellence in Writing Award, a $50,000 scholarship given each year to a YoungArts award winner in Writing. Giardini may apply the financial award against the cost of tuition, room and board to attend an accredited school of her choice.
Made possible through the generosity of the Micky and Madeleine Arison Family Foundation, the award demonstrates how philanthropic support for YoungArts award winners can create transformative opportunities for artists throughout their careers. The Lin Arison Excellence in Writing Award is part of YoungArts’ ongoing programmatic expansion, offering additional creative and professional development opportunities for artists at various career stages.
“Honor Giardini’s writing is simply a marvel,” said YoungArts Writing Panelist Nicole Cooley (1984 YoungArts Winner in Writing & U.S. Presidential Scholar in the Arts). “Risk-taking, stunning, asking urgent questions about the world we inhabit and about ourselves. From the beauty of Honor’s sentences to her narratives, she is a writer to watch, and I can’t wait to see her unforgettable and original work as it goes forward. What a joy to meet her at the beginning of what will be an amazing writing life.”
“Organizations like YoungArts and The Micky and Madeleine Arison Family Foundation are what keep artists going,” said Honor Giardini. “The college education this scholarship supports is invaluable — and will enable me to contribute to the field of arts education. Organizations such as YoungArts, Iowa Young Writers Studio, California State Summer School for the Arts, Adroit Journal, and Foyle Young Poets, have enabled me to be part of an artistic community otherwise unavailable where I live. I am the biggest believer in the importance of arts education. For people like me, artists from remote areas, programs like YoungArts are life giving, and necessary. Thank you.”
“Preparing for our performances at National YoungArts Week, our voice coach told us to put a hand on our chest when we read a word or phrase that provoked an emotion. Although this was initially awkward, it is a habit I have since adopted in my everyday speech. I find myself going throughout the day, listening, and putting a hand my chest. Thinking about my classmates and panelists I feel the urge to do this here. I am perpetually astonished by my cohort of writers.”
About YoungArts
YoungArts—the national foundation for the advancement of artists—was established in 1981 by Lin and Ted Arison to identify exceptional young artists, amplify their potential, and invest in their lifelong creative freedom. YoungArts provides space, funding, mentorship, professional development and community throughout artists’ careers. Entrance into this prestigious organization starts with a highly competitive application for talented artists ages 15–18, or grades 10–12, in the United States that is judged by esteemed discipline-specific panels of artists through a rigorous adjudication process.
For more information, visit youngarts.org, Instagram, YouTube, or Facebook.
