Eight Victoria East and West High School art students have advanced to the Texas Art Education Association’s (TAEA) State Visual Arts Scholastic Event (VASE) to be held Friday, April 29 and Saturday, April 30 in San Marcos, TX.
The event recognizes the most outstanding high school student artwork at the state level. The State VASE Event is considered to be the highlight of all VASE events, representing artistic success at the highest level.
Students’ artwork will be divided into Division Levels, I, II, III and IV, with Division IV being the most advanced. The Division Levels aid the jurors as they judge artwork. Jurors will evaluate artwork in each Division Level using a Rating System, I, II, III, IV and V, with Rating V, or Distinguished, being the highest. Pieces with a Rating V are eligible for consideration of the Gold Seal Award, the highest honor in VASE. Of the total number of artworks qualified for the state event, only up to 7% are considered for this award.
Pieces selected as Gold Seal winners receive a Gold State Medallion and their artwork will be shown in a variety of venues across the state, finishing with the Gold Seal Exhibition at the annual TAEA Fall Conference.
“I really like to draw, and I wanted to show it in an image of me drawing in my sketchbook,” Brayden Alvear, freshman at Victoria West High School (VWHS) said of his piece. “I took inspiration from movies when they show a letter being written and images of the letter being put on the screen while the person is writing.”
Students advancing to State VASE are listed below by Division Level.
Division I
Brayden Alvear, freshman, VWHS: “Graphite Imagination”
Rebecca Felan, freshman, VEHS: “Introspection”
Graciela Gonzalez, freshman, VEHS: “Eternal Havoc”
Zach Jacob, freshman, VWHS: “Computed Chaos”
Emma Siecko, freshman, VEHS: “Mini Boss”
Division II
Theresa Miska, sophomore, VEHS: “Goopy Eyes”
Division IV
Emma Fimbel, senior, VEHS: “A Solution”
Colin Prejean, senior, VWHS: “Numb”
“The purpose of my artwork is to show how blurred the line is between independence and loneliness,” Prejean said of his piece. “This piece shows how stress or anxiety or fear can leave someone frozen in time, their thoughts and decisions, and feeling completely inundated with outside processes that you just stop.”
To view all eight students’ artwork click HERE.