Nine students have advanced to state, alongside dozens who have earned the highest score on art pieces at this year’s VASE competition last Saturday. The award winners received recognition and medals during the VASE ceremony on Wednesday.
“I am shocked,” drawing teacher Karalee Scott said. “I feel like this is the first time we’ve had this many students going. We have nine students, but ten actual pieces of artwork, so I’m beyond proud.”
The nine advancing to state are senior Claire Fassett who has two pieces advancing to state, seniors Ariel Choi, Hannah Earles, Marley Edgeley, Sydney Milner, junior Anchita Dash, sophomore Deetya Korlapati, freshmen Kiana Bolkameh and Sahasra Kattika.
“I did feel cautiously optimistic this year,” painting teacher Crimson Kracy said. “Fassett has gone to state three times her freshman, sophomore and now senior year, and she got a gold seal her freshman year.”
Fassett worked on one of her pieces for over a year, starting it before last year’s competition, but creating the piece is just a portion of the process.
“At the competition, they have an interview that they do with the judges, and so they have to prepare those questions,” Scott said. “And a lot of the questions mostly are like, ‘why did you make this?’, and then more specific details when it comes to the elements and principles of art.”
Once the participants have finished their interviews, their art is taken to the gymnasium, where they can view other competitors’ artwork, while the judges score pieces and select state advancers. The jurors are told to select a number of pieces depending on the total number of artworks submitted.
“They haven’t read the questionnaire that everyone fills out,” Kracy said. “So sometimes it’s just about how visually strong it is, if it tells a story, if you look at it and you’re like, I understand this, or I have questions about this.”
All of the participants were recognized for their submissions in their respective divisions. Those who scored a four out of four received a medal.
“We have a slideshow, and it has everyone who participated with an image of their artwork, their title, and their medium,” Scott said. “And then we call them up on stage. They get their certificate for participating.”
The state VASE competition will take place on Apr. 24-25 at San Marcos High School. In which competitors will attend workshops and the Gold Seal ceremony, where state winners are announced. Participants can also discuss their portfolio with art school students, receiving critique and recognition.
“A lot of the time, it’s just nice because you get to see so much of the artwork from around all of Texas,” Scott said. “It’s nice to see what other people can do. The creativity level and the imagination that you see at that height of technique is really nice to see.”
