Washington-Marion Enters VANS National Shoe Design Competition

The art students at Washington-Marion Magnet High School, are in the running to win a national shoe design contest but they need our help. The school entered the annual VANS Custom Culture Shoe Design competition to design custom VANS sneakers based upon four pillars: action sports, art, music, and street culture as well as showcasing hometown pride and various themes. The do-it-yourself(DIY) competition is meant to inspire and empower high school art students around the nation to embrace their creativity using blank VAN kicks to show off their skills.

They can't become finalists in the competition unless we vote for them. So, let's rally SWLA! To help them make it to the finish line, all you need to do is vote for them (1 time) every day, starting now through May 6. The "Top 5" high school finalists will be announced on May 9.

In 2021 VANS co-founder Paul Van Doren passed away at age 90. The competition is in honor of his legacy of showcasing authentic shoe designs that embodied his Off The Wall spirit. Out of 250 high schools nationwide, the Charging Indians tennis shoe design is ranked among the top 50! This means these talented art students got a real shot at winning this!

By the way, Washington-Marion would be the second high school from Louisiana to win this national VANS competition. Last year's first prize winners were the art students from Fontainebleau High School in Covington, Louisiana!

Let's go, Lake Charles, it's our turn! The annual VANS Custom Culture Shoe Design competition awards the "Top 5" high school art programs much-needed cash prizes to assist diminishing budgets for arts education. The first-place winner gets $50,000 and the 4 runner-up schools will each be awarded $15,000. Vote for Washington-Marion Magnet High School's VAN shoe design now!