Bowling Green High School graduate Sam Garvin’s talent as an artist has paid off, as he received national recognition for his art at the 2022 Scholastic Art & Writing Awards national ceremony.

Garvin, who graduated in May, traveled to New York City to attend the ceremony June 9 at Carnegie Hall.

“Being recognized at Carnegie Hall felt great,” Garvin said. “The building was gigantic and a sea of people were there. I felt how small I was, and at the time, I experienced being part of a much bigger process.”

Garvin said it was also a good excuse to explore New York City.

“A few of my favorite highlights were visiting the Met and seeing ‘Phantom of the Opera,’ ” he said.

The Scholastic Art & Writing Awards website said the awards program, which was founded in 1923, is “the nation’s longest-running, most prestigious recognition program for creative teens.”

Teens in grades 7-12 can apply in 28 categories of art and writing. During his senior year, Garvin was recognized by the program at both regional and national levels. His regional art awards included six Gold Keys, four Silver Keys and 11 Honorable Mentions. He was also an American Visions Nominee. National awards in the Drawing and Illustration category included a Silver Medal for his work titled “Plum Run Road” and a Gold Medal and American Visions Medal for his work titled “Tragedy Tourist.”

Jessica Garvin, Sam’s mother, said, “I didn’t realize just how big of a deal the awards ceremony was. I was amazed at the guest speakers.” Among some of the notable guests were Mayim Bialik, Nick Cannon and Kelly Clarkson.

She said Sam is the only student in the history of BGHS to win three national awards and that he plans to attend Transylvania University in Lexington, where he was awarded an art scholarship.

Garvin said her son also earned his welding certification in high school and a sculpture he created won first place in a regional competition and second place in a state competition.

William Stinson, a retired art teacher at BGHS who taught Garvin his freshman year, said, “When I first began to assign projects in basic design and drawing, Sam showed originality immediately. He was going above and beyond what was expected with his creativity.”

Garvin winning the national American Visions Medal didn’t come as a surprise to Stinson, who said it is “the highest honor you can get.”

“He developed his own personal voice right away, which is very rare, and it carried on with his art work from then on,” Stinson said. “His work is very unique and sometimes misunderstood, but he managed to produce and persevere. I’m very proud of him.”

Zac Bush, Garvin’s voice teacher who began working with him when he was around 11 or 12, said that visual art is not his only talent.

“He also writes his own music and is a great singer,” Bush said.

Bush said that at first, he wasn’t aware of Garvin’s talent with visual art and he recalled one particular day when Garvin stopped by his studio for a voice lesson.

“He was wearing some Chuck Taylors that were amazing. They looked like pieces of art,” he said. “I asked him where he got them. It turns out, he had bought a pair of plain shoes and drew on them himself.”

When Bush was hired as the guest artist to direct last year’s BGHS production of “Godpsell,” he turned to Garvin for help with the set.

“I have a lot of musical theater experience, but visual art is where my limits reach,” Bush said. “I had an idea of how I wanted the set to look – kind of rundown with a graffiti atmosphere. So it dawned on me that Sam was a senior and I asked him if he was open to helping.”

He was, so Bush said they hired him.

“He showed me another level of genius. He took my words and put them on canvas and brought them to life,” he said.

Bush said that some of the best compliments they received on the production were about the set.

“Sam definitely marches to the beat of his own drum. I just think he’s a genius,” Bush said. “The whole world will probably know the name Sam Garvin someday.”

Local artist Andi Rudloff, who grew up knowing the Garvin family, met Sam and connected with him through his artwork.

“He’s just got this curious nature about him and is a fierce storyteller,” she said. “A lot of students paint and want to use oils and pastels, and want their work to be beautiful. Sam doesn’t care if it’s beautiful. He cares more about the story. I really value that.”

Rudloff said that he is fun to collaborate with and that he once helped her create a 34-foot mural for the IdeaFestival, a festival hosted by The Center for Gifted Studies at Western Kentucky University.

She said it was his “no-fear attitude” that led him to become part of that project.

“It’s very rare to have an artist pull off what he has pulled off all four years of high school,” Rudloff said. “I am so impressed with his work.”