by Eamonn Gonzalez

On January 4th of this year, Vans opened registration for schools to enter the Custom Culture Contest, during which students customize four pairs of white Vans, courtesy of the shoe company, for an opportunity to win up to $50,000 towards the school’s art programs.

Students from Advanced Placement and Honors Art, under the advisement of art teacher Ms. Zadigian, entered this year’s competition which revolved around four themes, including art, music, action sports, and local flavor. “It’s amazing how many opportunities our kids are able to find that can really ramp up their career,” Ms. Zadigian said.

“I am always researching contests for our art students to join. When I came across the Vans Custom Culture Contest, I read that, with a win, our arts program would gain $50,000 along with a free ride to LCAD, an art college in California. Vans is a top choice shoe brand for our student population, so I knew there would be interest,” she said.

The registration deadline was February 12th, which gave students from February 15th through 26th to design their custom Vans. During that time, students also submitted pictures and videos of their progress, after which, Vans’ employees narrowed the selection to the top 50 submissions, 10 each from five geographical regions throughout the country.

Ms. Zadigian’s team was comprised of Diamond Arroyo, Brittany Dobrowski, Erika Hoffmann, Richard Shields, Paulina Simon, Luiza Smajlaj, and Saul Rodriguez. Each student had a hand in one of the four pairs of shoes that were submitted for the contest.

The students were allowed to rip off parts of the shoes, cut into the fabric, and paint or draw on them. To Vans, seemingly anything goes, as long as students were able to successfully translate the theme from the look of the shoe.

Unfortunately, Woodbridge High School’s submissions did not crack the top 50, but since it was the school’s first time participating, there was a lot to take away and the students are already looking forward to next year. According to Ms. Zadigian, “As first year entries, I witnessed hard working art students who are dedicated to their ideas and making them work using new media.

“I saw students who collaborated and took well to critiques. All of our students worked on their shoes over spring break, some in their hotel room in Canada with the French Honor Society trip! We have some passionate art students who love a challenge and are thirsty for more competitions.”

After the top 50 schools were named, Ms. Zadigian and the students met to debrief and discuss their experience. “We met to reflect on our designs and the many other entries that we found on Instagram,” she said. “Design ideas for next year are already brewing!”

Until next year, students should be proud of the collaborative work they did in an unconventional medium, and Ms. Zadigian is thrilled with the work the students put in. “I am extremely proud of our student’s dedication and effort. The most important part of the competition is that we solved problems while translating designs from 2-D drawings to 3-D shoe designs.”