Making careful brushstrokes junior Amelie Baker swirls acrylic paints together to reveal her final VASE piece. The Visual Arts Scholastic Event (VASE), is a Texas visual art competition where students submit their artwork to be evaluated by a panel of judges. According to Baker, artists can submit two pieces each year making it similar to a UIL competition.
“Art has always been a creative and emotional outlet for me,” Baker said. “I like working with materials that I am not familiar with, like oil pastels or watercolor and VASE helped me with that. VASE also helped me socially. I have always made friends at VASE and it’s nice to just meet fun people and create something new”
High school students from throughout Texas can take part in the event. Students do not need to be enrolled in an art class to enter VASE, however a sponsoring teacher must sign off on the student’s entry.
“I’ve submitted two paintings in the last three years,” Baker said. “But right now I’m working on two new acrylic pieces. Both of them are a different, so I get to have a wide spread of styles, and analyze my methods of making them.”
Since the competition started 25 years ago, the entries for VASE have risen to over 35,000 per year. Participants not only create artwork but also write about their creative processes and their understanding of visual art. Contestants are judged on a one to four scale, with four the highest score. Artwork is judged based on originality, technical skill, understanding of art principles and interpretation of the artist’s intent.
“There’s two categories of scoring to get one through four,” junior Lily Pierce said. “The first category is the actual art and application and like, technical ability. The other half is the ability to talk about the art piece. I have to be able to create that balance. I made a four every year I’ve done it, but I’ve not made a state, unfortunately.”
Students who receive a four can be chosen to go to state by judges, who pick a select group of artists. Artworks that receive a four are awarded a Regional Medal. Some of the top-rated artworks are eligible for the Gold Seal Award based on the judge’s decision. The gold seal award is known to be the highest honor in VASE. If students don’t get a four, they receive a certificate for participating.
“I started in freshman year and had my two pieces selected to go to state,” Baker said. “They sit down with your piece and ask you all the questions you have to compose for it. I’ve gotten great scores for the past few years, which have always been a big confidence booster. It makes me want to continue to make art when I know someone in the real art world is approving.”
Students can submit a variety of artwork for the competition. They can create 2D artwork using hand-painted pieces or paper and fabric scraps. There is also the opportunity to create 3D artwork using natural elements like flowers. The wide range of options allows each artist to express their creativity in a unique way.
“I’m trying to experiment with new ways to use acrylic paint, while also highlighting the people that matter in my life,” Baker said. “Both of the paintings I submitted were of friends. One of them is inspired by our Western dancing club. Both of my friends are from different cultures and have bonded over Western culture. Being part of the South brought them together and they ended up being friends, so I painted a cute action piece of them moving around. The other piece I made is of my friend eating food in front of me.”
VASE can be a great way for artists to express themselves out there but some students feel the opposite. Entries are not allowed to feature explicit content according to Pierce; it can make students feel censored. One rule that stands out to Pierce is that artworks cannot display any sexual content.
“I have conflicted feelings about VASE,” Pierce said. “There are certain rules like, no gore, no nudity, which make me wonder, why are we censoring art? It’s not meant to be disturbing or shocking. It’s meant to be something beautiful and make a statement. It’s like that because it is a school-related competition, which is unfortunate. They also don’t typically prefer fantasy, they prefer human subject matters. If you have a different art style than what they prefer you’re not gonna do well which is unfortunate.”
One thing that most students coming to Vase can agree on is it’s good for college scholarships. Over 30 students in 2023 were given college scholarships with money ranging from $100 to $1,000. With 14 different types of scholarships given out to students depending on what they submitted for the competition.
“You do get opportunities for scholarships,” Baker said. “If a student goes to state multiple times it’s proving their success. It makes people put themselves out there, I have to think about how I want to be perceived and how I want to sell myself. Presenting myself is a big social skill.”
According to the University of Florida’s College of the Arts, art can foster self-expression, allowing students to connect with their identities and manage their emotions, leading to a better social life for students. Junior Andrew Lee notes that participation in VASE can enhance social skills as well as boost academic achievement.
“VASE is a great chance for artists who want to display their artworks while getting new skills not only socially but academically,” Lee said. “It looks good on college applications and gets your work acknowledged. Overall, I enjoy going and value the knowledge I gain.”
