Youngarts 2019-2020

@user222 Finalist notifications aren’t done, according to the Youngarts Twitter they’ll be notifying finalists into next week as well. And then the official list goes out Thanksgiving week.

I was under the impression that finalists are called first and then sent an email. Maybe a finalist on here can confirm?

@AmyIzzy one reason could be that almost all of the high schools and most colleges are back to school that week. Some schools won’t let kids miss that much time.

@SingSing Yep. I received the call at 2:50pm and the email at 8:50am the next day (pacific time).

Try to be of good cheer, everyone!

Finalists are approximately 2.19% of all entries, if there are about 175 finalists and about 8000 entries. (You can adjust that number slightly up or down, but the point being…your odds are approximately 1 in 50.) In other words, getting YoungArts at all is a rare honor (under 10%), and getting finalist status very rare indeed.

I think my daughter’s entries are stunning…particularly in CNF. In my heart of hearts, will I be sad if she does not get this? Yes. I want her to be able to get this additional training and mentoring, and I think the honor would be a big morale boost.

But I also know that she can have a writing career regardless of what any one contest says. She’s got the writing chops! I know the judges are going to LOVE one of her two CNF pieces, and hopefully they will get and love the other one too, but if they don’t, then they don’t. Her writing will find a home.

Whatever your art form is–or your young person’s art form, if you are the parent–the important thing is not to get too rattled by any one result. The arts are competitive, and subjective, and there are different aesthetics out there. You have to be tough enough to hear NO sometimes in this industry in order to hang in there to get the affirming YES.

@BookLvr Well said! I agree completely! I know some mega-talented musicians who have won awards and recognition in several national competitions and were accepted (with almost full scholarships) to the best music colleges who “only” received the Merit Award through YoungArts (only is in quotes because, to your point, that is nothing to sneeze at when they only choose 10% of applicants!) I also know some incredible dancers and poets who did not get recognized by YoungArts at all but later went on to work on Broadway or publish acclaimed poems. It IS very subjective and you never know what the judges are looking for so it’s fine to be disappointed, but try not to take it personally. It’s wonderful to apply for prestigious competitions like YoungArts, but don’t let a lack of recognition define your potential! Have faith in your talents and follow your passions no matter what! My daughter has been blessed with many moments of recognition in theatre and voice but she has also faced rejection along the way. While those are tough moments for sure, she feels they keep her grounded and push her harder to achieve her goals. Attitude is everything. Keep your chin up and continue to dream big no matter what the outcome of the YoungArts competition. Having said that, since YA said they will continue calling into next week and it IS possible that the A list winners may have conflicts attending the Miami week, there is still hope for that finalist call! Sending positive vibes to everyone waiting!

Is today the last day of calls?

My daughter received an email asking her to call, only after she had not answered her phone:)

Have you seen any visual artist at all get notified lol

@anarthoe there was another person on here that said they had a friend who won in visual arts, but that’s it. I still haven’t seen anything about photography.

Activities seem to be dying down for the finalists notifications. Haven’t heard much news since yesterday. Does anyone think differently?

Someone got accepted to theatre all I’m hearing is theatre, some classical musicians, poets, and voice but u could be wrong. Go to youngarts Instagram tags and you’ll see who says their a finalist

Did you guys say they are going off of location. They could be going off of location, alphabetically, or discipline wise I have no idea. This thing just feels a tad bit disorganized. Tbh

Has anyone heard anything about creative nonfiction and novel?? I hope finalist notifications aren’t over yet, I’m still holding out hope.

The realist in me says that all/most finalists were called on Tuesday/Wednesday. Isn’t that kind of what happened last year? They called everyone over two days and then said they weren’t done calling, when they were. However, the optimist in me says that I haven’t seen a single photography or film finalist, and only one visual arts finalist. Maybe they’re just not posting, but it seems peculiar as these types of artists, photography in particular, usually have an online presence in which they share their work/achievements, as they have in previous years. I just hate not knowing.

@shysquid thats exactly what I was thinking the majority of visual artist and photographers should have a prominent online presence of they don’t live under a rock. To its two things either they aren’t telling and waiting if they actually could attend the finalist week or youngarts itself aren’t calling people in these disciplines. Keep in mind they do have to call like 170 give or take.

I am conflicted the same way. But the realistic side rules now. I think they tried to call as many finalists as they could on Tuesday and Wednesday, which is much appreciated. But the calling into next week is a bit deceiving as I suspect the activity level is much lower after the two peak days. It seems to be consistent with the observations of the previous years. YA says they don’t follow any particular order for calls. That seems to be the case too.

Then I have nothing to say. Idk why people are saying anything ok social media then a few especially visual artists and photographers. I’m trying to be realistic as well but I’m starting to get confused about what they are doing. Tbh

@shysquid a couple of film finalists have been contacted. But I agree, I’ve only heard of 2 visual arts finalists so far. They’re usually in the range of 20. Maybe this year they reduced the number of finalists total.

also we have (barely) heard of any design finalists, maybe 1?