Starting today, students can visit www.vans.com/customculture to vote for CCHS in the Vans Custom Culture shoe design competition. If Cathedral makes it to the top five, all twenty participating art students will win a trip to New York City where the winner of $50,000 will be chosen.
This year, Cathedral Catholic art students designed their own Vans shoes and entered them in the contest. Pictures of the finished shoes will be sent to Vans, and the public will then be able to vote on one of the top fifty, narrowing it down to five finalists.
In 2010, Vans Custom Culture was created when a high school art teacher and a Vans sales representative collaborated with high schools in order to get students involved with their product. This idea grew into a nation-wide competition that, during its first year, saw 326 art classes from all 50 states send in shoes.
The participating CCHS art group this year consists of 20 students ranging from beginning art all way through AP Art Studio. The students broke up into groups of five, each with a different style shoe and a different variation of the main theme, “trains.”
The processes began with registration. Only twenty schools from the state of California were accepted, and Cathedral was fortunate enough to be one of them. After they were accepted, Vans sent the students four pairs of shoes: High Top, Slip-On, 106, and. Authentic
For each different pair of shoes, students were instructed to use the main theme in a way that incorporates street art, music, art, and action sports. Cathedral students agreed on the name “Freedom Express” or, as senior Michael Rogers called it, “chug-a-chug-a-shoe-shoe”. “
“At first, we wanted to have ‘Revolution’ as our theme, with Libya and the other riots in the Middle East happening,” said AP art student Michelle Hariman. “But Vans rejected the idea and wrote back saying that the idea did not have to be that complex. We got talking and brainstorming and somehow ended up with the theme of Freedom Express.”
The project was first given to AP art students, but once word of the opportunity spread, aspiring artists came out of the woodwork from all the art levels.
As for the prize money, the $50,000 given to the winning school will be for the art department. Art teacher Ms. Sylvia Wiedmann said. “I am not sure yet how this money will be spent. It will have to be discussed with Vans’ expectations for the promotion of the arts and with the CCHS administration.”
One idea that came up was to use to the money for computers for all level art students. But before any of that can happen, Cathedral needs to win in the online voting polls that open April 21st.
Ms. Wiedmann and the entire art department strongly encourage Cathedral students to vote and help support the artwork of their fellow students. The online voting address is www.vans.com/customculture .
“My experience so far in the contest has been great. I’m really glad I was asked to help out,” said junior Cristina Cabrera. “I’m only an Art 1-2 student, so it’s been an honor working with the kids from the more advanced classes. Win or lose, it’s been super fun thus far.”
Danielle Miller • Apr 2, 2011 at 9:36 PM
I didn’t know that this was first for AP students only; we were told that that 3/4s were doing it as a class project. Coming up for designs and all, and that our class was encouraged to participate as well. Originally they had come up with the ‘Revolution’ idea, and we had some meaningful and visually great designs for it, but we couldn’t do it because (well, didn’t we all see this coming beforehand?) they don’t want to be endorsing something as radical as the current Jasmine Revolution. Also, politics aren’t going to sell well, and the whole scheme is about getting new designs out in the cheapest means possible whilst covering it up with the ‘oh we’re trying to help art departments’ visage. I think some people have been failing to realize that the competition is more about marketing than it is for art, but if it’s based on votes….I hope all of you guys vote for us.
*imaginary bulletpoint* We never really decided on ‘Freedom Express,’ only ‘trains.’ The Freedom Express idea was at the preference of the artists clinging to the revolution idea that got thrown away. Notice, really only one shoe pair has that on it (well, that I know of, I haven’t seen the street art pair yet).
I hope our school wins! Everyone please vote for us when the time comes!…you know that we’ll all be spamming facebook with the link when we get it, so you have no reason not to.