Art students in Region 7 competed at Whitehouse High School on Saturday, February 8th and showcased their artwork at VASE, the Visual Art Scholastic Event. 26 students from Lindale attended the competition, along with art teachers Mrs. Curry and Mr. James.

“Photographs dominate, so it was a matter of taking cameras during class periods, after school and on weekend photo excursions,” art teacher Mr. James said. “The students can have no more than 2 entries each, and they have an interview for both entries.”

Art students worked both in class and outside of class on numerous pieces of art which they planned on entering in VASE. Many art classes also went on numerous photo excursions to try to capture the perfect shot.

“Our class went to a broken down mill in Marshall, and it was really nice because there were a lot of good opportunities to get pictures,” junior art student Fatima Azhar said. “Everything was torn apart and broken down, so it gave a really good aspect.”

A juror at VASE (which is usually a college professor or someone in the community who practices art) interviews each contestant on their artwork, then gives the artwork a ranking of either a 1, 2, 3, or 4, with 4 being the best.

“Those who earn a four from the juror advance to the next level of competition that same day,” Mr. James said. “Then they go from regionals to area. At that point, all of the works that got fours are considered by all the jurors and they simply vote on which pieces get a four on area level.”

After they make it to the area level, the people who get fours will then advance to state, which is in April. The majority of people from Lindale made it to area, and 7 people also advanced to state.

“It was really cool to make it to state because I’m an art 1 student and the piece that advanced was the one that I didn’t expect to win,” Drew Austin said. “I’m really happy to have gotten this opportunity, and I look forward to competing at state in April.”