Action sports brand Vans today began its yearly contest for high school students. The competition, called Vans Custom Culture, encourages students to flash their creative ideas on the canvas shoes.
As part of the contest, students from across the country are challenged to design shoes based on four themes representing the Vans lifestyle: actions sports, arts, music and local flavor.
The competition, which requires high school art teachers to register their schools, is also part of a larger movement to support arts education. The winning submission is slated to receive a $50,000 donation from the Cypress, Calif.-based brand “to help foster the school’s #RightToArt movement,” according to a statement.
Additionally, Vans will donate $4,000 to the top four runner-up schools.
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“An arts education inspires creative expression and helps prepare students for what’s next, which is why Vans believes that today’s youth and future generations deserve the Right to Art,” said Sarah Crockett, VP of global consumer marketing at Vans. “In the last six years, Vans Custom Culture has inspired hundreds of thousands of U.S. art students to take a stand for arts education and Vans has donated over $500,000 to support arts education.”
One of the winning designs will be produced and sold at select Vans stores and on the brand’s website.
This is the VF Corp. brand’s seventh competition.
For the 2015 Vans Custom Culture contest, roughly 3,000 schools participated.
Check out some of the original styles from past winners.
