The Alliance for Young Artists & Writers, a nonprofit organization dedicated to bringing outstanding visual art and writing created by teenagers to a national audience, has launched the 2009 Scholastic Art Awards and will be on exhibit at the Kentucky Museum of Art and Craft, February 6-28, 2009. The Awards offer early recognition for creative teenagers and art scholarship opportunities for graduating high school seniors. An opening reception will be February 6, 2009 from 5-9pm in conjunction with the First Friday Trolley Hop. To keep true to the young artists theme, the musical trio Nora Ben & Eli will play live. The trio features teenage multi-instrumentalists Nora Grossman (16), Ben Scruton (16), and Eli Kleinsmith (16) who play an exciting and eclectic mix including jazz, Irish and Appalachian folk, old time music, and some original tunes. Their own unique arrangements incorporate a variety of instruments including fiddle, guitars, banjo, accordion, percussion, ukulele, and tinwhistle as well as vocals. (www.norabenandeli.com)