Last weekend, April 28-29, Timber Creek artists traveled to San Marcos to participate in the State VASE Contest. The competition started with over 35,000 artwork entries statewide in the regional events, narrowing it down to 2,200 entries for the State level.
At the state event, two student’s works received a Gold Seal: Jolene Pinto for her piece Grove and Jake Howard for Parallel Opposites. The Gold Seal is the equivalent of a State Championship.
“The VASE competition was a really cool way to show [my] abilities in art, and everyone that participated had a lot of fun having their art judged…” said Howard. “Receiving a Gold Seal was a huge honor, and I’m glad I could be recognized for what I’ve done.”
Additionally, five students received workshop scholarships for their work: Karson Gopffarth, Jacob Kuchar, Paige Allen, Carlos Martinez and Mariangelis Pagan Marcano. Karson Gopffarth, one of the honored recipients of the scholarship, was incredibly shocked by the award and felt all his hard work had paid off.
“Getting a scholarship at State VASE was very surprising for me,” said Gopffarth. “I went to State VASE two years ago and [can] remember how many talented artist[s] were there, and it was the same this year.”
Chrissy Fitch, visual art instructor, expressed her great pride for all of the students and their hard work throughout the competition. The sight of other students congratulating and supporting each other made a significant impact on Fitch, warming her heart.
“It was an awesome sight to see these young people burst into shouts of joy for each other when their names [were] called at the award ceremonies for the scholarships,” said Fitch.
