SeeCalifornia.com

Vans shoes may not be the perfect footwear to go with your designer Victoria’s Secret lingerie. However, they are the COOL Shoes, and they are becoming more so as high school students decorate them for cool cash. A competition invites high school students across the U.S. to embrace their creativity. Decreased educational funding for ART in high schools all over the US has become the impetus since 2010 for Custom Culture Contest, where high school students compete and create masterpieces of art from a pair of traditional Vans shoes. The winner is awarded $50,000 toward their high school art program!

Registration is held January 2, 2013 – February 11, 2013. High school art programs can register for the 2013 competition on the Vans Custom Culture website (vans.com/customculture). After registration, each school will be tasked with customizing four favorite Vans styles: the Old Skool, 106 Vulcanized, Sk8-Hi and Classic Slip-On. Students are charged with designing each pair of shoes to fit within one of three themes representing the Vans lifestyle, including action sports, art and music and then also a fourth “local flavor” theme reflecting regional inspiration.