Looking to pay for your school’s art program? Here’s how to win $50,000 from Vans
Cypress-based action sports brand Vans is accepting registrations for its eighth annual Custom Culture competition, a program that will land one talented high school team $50,000 in funding for its school’s art program.
The top winner and four runner-up schools, which will get $4,000 each, will receive the awards based on the designs they create using blank Vans shoes as their canvas.
Online registration is open through 5 p.m. PST Feb. 10. (Even though the high school students will be the ones designing the custom kicks, each team needs to be registered by an authorized teacher or faculty member 21 or older.) Each team accepted into the competition — 3,000 in all — will receive four pairs of blank shoes, which they will adorn as they see fit to reflect four themes (action sports, arts, music and local flavor).
The folks at Vans will winnow the pool of entrants down to 50 semifinalist schools, with online voters (from April 26 to May 10) picking five finalists that will travel to Los Angeles in early June to showcase their designs before celebrity judges, who will decide the 2017 winner.
The 2016 Vans Custom Culture competition was won by a team from John P. Stevens High School of Edison, N.J., taking home top honors for serving up a four-pack of diner-themed footwear.
In addition, $5,000 (and up to 25 pairs of shoes) will go to the school that submits a design that best epitomizes the theme “technology in design.” (The result of that separately judged competition will be announced May 5.)
Additional information and registration guidelines can be found at customculturevans.com.
For more musings on all things fashion and style, follow me at @ARTschorn.
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