The Young Artist Award (originally known as the Youth In Film Award) is an accolade bestowed by the Young Artist Foundation, a non-profit organization founded in 1978 to recognize and award excellence of youth performers, and to provide scholarships for young artists who may be physically and/or financially challenged.

The Young Artist Foundation was the first organization to establish an awards ceremony specifically set to recognize and award the contributions of performers under the age of 21 in the fields of film, television, theater and music.

The 1st Youth In Film Awards ceremony was held in November 1979, at the Sheraton Universal Hotel in Hollywood to honor outstanding young performers of the 1978/1979 season. The most recent 33rd Annual Young Artist Awards ceremony, honoring young performers of the year 2011, was held at the Sportsmen's Lodge in Studio City, California on May 6, 2012.

The Young Artist Foundation is a non-profit 501(c) organization founded in 1978 by long-standing Hollywood Foreign Press (Golden Globes) member Maureen Dragone and dedicated to presenting scholarships to physically and/or financially challenged aspiring young artists, allowing them to pursue a career in entertainment by attending a performing arts school of their choice. The scholarship program is funded exclusively by donations, one of its most prominent contributors being the Hollywood Foreign Press Association.

Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta (/ˈstɛfəniː dʒʌrməˈnɑːtə/ STE-fə-nee jurr-mə-NAH-tə; born March 28, 1986), known by her stage name Lady Gaga, is an American singer and songwriter. Born and raised in New York City, she primarily studied at the Convent of the Sacred Heart and briefly attended New York University's Tisch School of the Arts before withdrawing to focus on her musical career. She began performing in the rock music scene of Manhattan's Lower East Side, and was signed with Streamline Records by the end of 2007. During her employment as a songwriter for the record company, her vocal abilities captured the attention of recording artist Akon, who signed her to his label Kon Live Distribution.

Lady Gaga came to prominence as a recording artist following the release of her debut album The Fame (2008), which was a critical and commercial success that topped charts around the world and included the international number-one singles "Just Dance" and "Poker Face". After embarking on the The Fame Ball Tour, she followed the album with The Fame Monster (2009), which spawned the worldwide hit singles "Bad Romance", "Telephone" and "Alejandro". The album's success allowed her to embark on the eighteen-month long Monster Ball Tour, which later became one of the highest-grossing concert tours of all time. Her most recent album Born This Way (2011) topped the charts of most major markets and generated more international chart-topping singles, including "Born This Way", "Judas" and "The Edge of Glory". Besides her musical career, she involves herself with humanitarian causes and LGBT activism.