VASE Preview

UPDATE: Two students from Westside High School have qualified to State! Congratulations to Walelegh Admasu and his Drawing as well as Elena Carrasco, with a photo submission. Pictures of the work can be seen below.

Artwork is being matted for the show, fees collected and permission slips turned in. Artists at Westside high school are eagerly awaiting the Saturday morning when they can pack onto the school bus and head to a high school down in Humble Texas. Many students who’ve won previous awards in VASE are eagerly participating again this year. Students are placed into groups based on their years/experience in art, where they’ll compete against others at that level.

Vase or, the Visual Arts Scholastic Event, is an opportunity for high school art students to earn scholarship money and gain experience by speaking and being critiqued one on one with an art professional based on their art pieces they worked on class. The experience enables students to have a ‘job interview’ like  situation, and even try to sell their artwork. We talked to Mrs. Smith, the drawing teacher here at Westside High school, to learn about the upcoming event.

“How successful is Westside overall at the vase competition?” asked Editor, Nicole. “We usually have students go to state, there is also an additional Saturday in April where students spend a whole day, all works that have received awards are shown there as well. Many medals and hand-written letters from judges and teachers  are also awarded.” “What is the impact of winning the competition?” “The impact of VASE can prove to be very positive, ‘Vase Winner’ on a resume shows a well-rounded student with many talents, and it’s an outside of school competition.” says Smith. The question on everyone’s mind, when will winners be announced, is also clarified, “The day of Vase, one teacher goes back after all judgement to retrieve all the art work, this is a large time investment. By Monday, students will know if they’ve won. With thanks to Mrs. Smith, we are now more well-informed about this highly regarded UIL event that both students and teachers work very hard at to make possible. Good luck Westside art students!

Elena’s Picture

Walelegh’s Drawing