Pretty soon, you might be able to walk into a store and buy a pair of Vans shoes with a design created by a group of talented Carlsbad High School art students.
They walked away as the big winners of the sixth annual Custom Culture competition, which challenges high school students throughout the U.S. to get creative and design unique pairs of Vans shoes for a chance to win money for art education at their schools.
This year, a record of 3,000 schools participated in the competition, which culminated June 9 at Industria Superstudios in New York City, where a panel of celebrity judges (actress Victoria Justice, celebrity baker Amirah Kassem, musician Bea Miller, artist and author Dallas Clayton and Vans professional surfer Joel Tudor) crowned Carlsbad the winning school.
The Carlsbad High Students won a $50,000 donation for the school's art department. They also won two secondary competitions, which earned them additional donations totaling $25,000. In one competition they had to design a skateboard with an anti-smoking theme, while in the other they won for representing the best local flavor.
The winning design could also be sold in select Vans retail stores, as well as online.
"Year after year, Vans Custom Culture surpasses our wildest expectations, from the level of high school participation nationwide to the student creativity we see in all of the designs that come through as part of the competition," said Kevin Bailey, VF Action Sports Coalition and Vans president. "With arts education budgets continuing to suffer across the nation, Vans is thrilled to provide a platform to help talented youth find their creative voice and express themselves through art and design. Vans hopes that Custom Culture will inspire others to take up the cause of underfunding of public school arts education and further provide opportunities for creative expression."
They walked away as the big winners of the sixth annual Custom Culture competition, which challenges high school students throughout the U.S. to get creative and design unique pairs of Vans shoes for a chance to win money for art education at their schools.
This year, a record of 3,000 schools participated in the competition, which culminated June 9 at Industria Superstudios in New York City, where a panel of celebrity judges (actress Victoria Justice, celebrity baker Amirah Kassem, musician Bea Miller, artist and author Dallas Clayton and Vans professional surfer Joel Tudor) crowned Carlsbad the winning school.
The Carlsbad High Students won a $50,000 donation for the school's art department. They also won two secondary competitions, which earned them additional donations totaling $25,000. In one competition they had to design a skateboard with an anti-smoking theme, while in the other they won for representing the best local flavor.
The winning design could also be sold in select Vans retail stores, as well as online.
"Year after year, Vans Custom Culture surpasses our wildest expectations, from the level of high school participation nationwide to the student creativity we see in all of the designs that come through as part of the competition," said Kevin Bailey, VF Action Sports Coalition and Vans president. "With arts education budgets continuing to suffer across the nation, Vans is thrilled to provide a platform to help talented youth find their creative voice and express themselves through art and design. Vans hopes that Custom Culture will inspire others to take up the cause of underfunding of public school arts education and further provide opportunities for creative expression."