FRISCO, TEXAS – Every year for the past 30 years, students all around Texas have the chance to show off their amazing artistic talents to the masses: winning awards, scholarships, and more in VASE.
Over those years, the number of students participating in this competition has jumped from 400 in 1994 to 35,000 in 2019. It is safe to say that the popularity of this competition has grown a lot, but what is it like in the daily life of a student participating?
VASE is the Visual Arts Scholastic Event, which was founded in 1994. This competition was started by the Texas Art Education Association, (TAEA) by investigating UILs for other arts, like band and orchestra, and thought that visual arts would benefit from a competition like it.
Jayaakiran Bheemarasetti is a Centennial High School sophomore competing in the VASE competition. Having participated in VASE last year, she entered two pieces and got two fours for regionals and a three at state. This leads her to be confident in her abilities as an artist.
“I think personally, I’ve grown a lot technically in my art. I can see my proportions improving, and I have more confidence in my work. Which is big for if you want to compete in things like VASE, or anything for that matter.”
Due to taking a harder class this year, she has moved up in difficulty to Division 2. There, the competition is bound to be harder.
“The people in Division 2 have years of experience like I do, so I can’t help but be a little bit more nervous. It would be much harder to receive a Gold Seal, and that’s the five at regionals, but on the state level.”
On top of competing, she does many other things, like HOSA and more. So how does one manage all these things while still making a beautiful art piece?
“I saw working on my art as a brain break. When I was stressed or overwhelmed, I would work on my art project to re-energize. I would just repeat the process over and over again so that I could get both done at the same time.”
And it is not just Bheemarsetti doing this. From the more than a handful of students at Centennial to the thousands of students across the state who go through the same thing, this is an everyday schedule for them.
On February 24th, competition day is happening! Students will be coming to school and then go to the competition site.
