The grand prize winner has been announced in the Vans Custom Culture nationwide art contest and, unfortunately, it was not Wrangell High School.
Vans announced last Thursday that Moanalua High School in Honolulu, Hawaii, was selected as the grand prize winner, with a $50,000 award. Wrangell was one of four runners-up, winning $15,000 for the high school art program.
Wrangell submitted two pairs of decorated Vans shoes back in March under the guidance of teacher Tasha Morse. She didn’t expect what happened next.
“I went into this a bit unenthused, thinking that we were going to apply and it would stop there, or if we did get into the 250 initial schools, that we would design our shoes and that would be it,” Morse said. Not only did the shoes win a place in the top 250, they went on to win a spot in the top 50. Public voting led to a spot in the top five and a chance at the $50,000 prize.
The experience has empowered Morse to try more things.
“The whole experience has been really surreal,” Morse said. “It went from 0 to 100 (mph) in no time at all. I feel like Dorothy in ‘The Wizard of Oz’; I have never had so many people interested in a pair of red shoes in my life. I am also proud of the kids and their hard work, and I am feeling so incredibly lucky to be their teacher.”
Morse said the $15,000 prize money will allow the art class to do things it normally can’t do, like inviting guest artists to give demonstrations, pay for online art classes for students who can’t fit art into their daily schedule, or purchase needed supplies to experiment in different mediums.
Cyni Crary, director of the Wrangell Museum, has agreed to put the shoes on display through the summer so that people can get an up-close look at the artistic and winning project.
Waiting for the contest results was probably the hardest part for Morse, who admitted she was distracted for a week to see if the school won.
“(It’s) such a relief,” she said. “Can I go to sleep now?”
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