National Society of Arts and Letters

Our Mission: To Support Young Artists

The National Society of Arts and Letters (NSAL) is a nonprofit volunteer organization. Since 1944, it has recognized and encouraged young artists by sponsoring competitions and scholarships. They offer significant monetary awards of up to $12,000, and the opportunity to be judged by nationally-known professionals in each field. The NSAL competitions include the National Annual Awards Competition, which rotates each year between Drama, Musical Theatre, Dance, and Instrumental Music. The Dorothy Lincoln Smith Classical Voice Competition is designed for emerging professionals in a highly competitive field. The Winston Two-Dimensional Visual Art Scholarship and the Winston Classical Voice Scholarship support the training of young artists. NSAL scholarships support summer intensive study at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and the NSAL Young Writers' Fund supports study at the Iowa Young Writers' Studio. The Saint Louis Chapter of NSAL also offers Artist Support grants of up to $1,000. For more information, including age eligibility and application deadlines, click on the links above.

More information about the National Society of Arts and Letters, and the many ways in which it supports emerging talent in the creative and performing arts, may be found in the National Website, arts-nsal.org.

New Competitions in 2024

The next National Annual Awards Competition will be in Musical Theatre. Applications for the Chapter-level competition will be due on March 1, 2024. The Chapter winner will compete in the National competition in May 2024.

Chapter application deadlines for other NSAL competitions and scholarships will be February 1, 2024. Please click on the links at left to connect to site pages with more information about each one.

Congratulations to our 2023 Chapter Winners! National Awards

The First Place Winner was Ashley Schwach, a student in the Sargent Conservatory of Theatre Arts at Webster University. She is pursuing a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Acting and plans to graduate in May 2024. Ashley received the Chapter First Place Award of $2,000 and represented the Chapter in the National Competition.

The Second Place Winner was Luka Cruz, also a student in the Sargent Conservatory of Theatre Arts at Webster University. The Third Place Winner was Joshalynn Gibson, who is pursuing a Bachelor of Arts in Theater Performance at Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville.

From Left to Right Above:

Luka Cruz, Joshalynn Gibson, Ashley Schwach

Welcome to the NSAL Saint Louis Chapter

Welcome to the NSAL Saint Louis Chapter

Our Mission: To Support Young Artists

New Competitions in 2024

Congratulations to our 2023 Chapter Winners! National Awards

2023 Winston Scholarship in Two-Dimensional Art

CHAPTER CO-WINNER, Sadie Grace Malks

CHAPTER CO-WINNER, Sadie Grace Malks

CHAPTER CO-WINNER, Sadie Grace Malks

CHAPTER CO-WINNER, Contessa Smith

CHAPTER CO-WINNER, Sadie Grace Malks

CHAPTER CO-WINNER, Sadie Grace Malks