Elk River High’s Yanquoi Earns Two Gold Medals at Scholastic Art Awards

Elk River High School student Estella Yanquoi has earned TWO National Gold Medals at the 2025 Scholastic Art Awards for her acrylic paintings - entitled “Reality” and  “The Bond of Food.

The Alliance for Young Artists & Writers, a nonprofit organization, presents the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards each year. Honorable mention and Key awards are given to thousands of students, nationally, each year for artists using multiple forms of media. Gold Key winners advance on to the national competition.

Estella was initially awarded Gold Keys at the Minnesota regional level prior to moving on to national adjudication. Receiving a National Gold Medal placed artists like her within the top 1 percent of submissions across the country in 2025. In fact, of the more than 300,000 art and writing submissions entered, only 16 from Minnesota earned Gold Awards at the national level. Works for national medal consideration were juried on their excellence in originality, technical skill, and emergence of a personal vision.

Estella received her national recognition at the award ceremony at Carnegie Hall in New York City last month.