With the school year quickly coming to an end, many of Perry’s fine arts departments are taking part in competitions, including Perry Theater Company and winter guard and drumline. This year, the Art Department getting in on the action as well. Drawing and Painting teacher Lorena DeCristofaro’s advanced students are breaking out their artistic talents in the Vans Custom Culture contest.

According to the Vans website, the contest is “a national high school customization and competition using blank Vans shoes to be customized around different themes.” The students are required to design four provided pairs of shoes: Authentics, Old Skools, Sk8-Hi’s, and Slip-Ons. The overarching theme is assigned by state, and a smaller theme is assigned to each pair: music, art, sports, and local flavor (food and culture). With these guidelines, the shoes must be cohesive in representing some of Arizona’s best qualities.

Each participating school is only allowed to submit one application with only one photo of all four pairs. The winning contestant is flown to Los Angeles, CA to “celebrate their artwork” and $50,000 is awarded to their high school art department. Vans will also make the winning design available to the public to purchase.

DeCristofaro is excited and happy that Assistant Principal Heather Patterson chose her class for the project. Patterson said that she thought the contest would be a “wonderful opportunity” for students to showcase their creativity in a new light.

DeCristofaro thinks that the project has made her students more collaborative and helped them to attain new “abilities and acquire techniques.”

Junior Madi Gavin, assigned to the sports themed shoes, believes that her team “has been doing a great job at making sure everyone’s ideas are included while still making it look well-put together.” Junior Ceci Knaggs agrees, saying “being able to collaborate and work together” is the best way to “make the best work possible.”

Gavin said her favorite part about the project is the overall Arizonan theme because she loves being able to “show appreciation” to her native state. Sophomore Sasha Rodriguez agreed, saying she loved integrating her “Hispanic culture into the music shoe.”

The winner of the competition will be announced May 11.