In the virtual age, high school rivalries are no longer restricted to the likes of Leilehua versus Kahuku, or Kamehameha versus Punahou. In the nationwide Vans Custom Culture competition, the past couple of years have pitted finalist Moanalua High School against schools from all 50 states, with one New Mexico school they vow "shall not be named" besting them as Southwest region finalists and proceeding to win the competition in 2010 and 2012.
Game on! With seven seniors on Moanalua’s team this year, three returning from past years’ Vans competitions, senior Jordie Guasch declared, "There is no do or die, only do."
In light of diminished funding for school arts programs, the Vans Custom Culture competition was started in 2010 to encourage creativity by inviting high school students to design custom shoes using a pair of traditional Vans shoes. The winning team will receive $50,000 for its school’s art program.
The deadline to enter is Feb. 11. Registration is limited to the first 1,500 schools to enter, with each school receiving four pairs of Vans shoes to customize: the Old Skool, 106 Vulcanized, Sk8-Hi and Classic Slip-On.
Out of about 1,000 submissions annually, the Moanalua team has represented Hawaii the three years since the competition’s inception in the online popular vote before final judging. In 2011, the Hawaii school became one of five regional winners, beating schools from eight states and earning a trip to New York City to showcase its designs. In New York they hit up museums where the students viewed art masterpieces firsthand, as well as toured Vans’ Brooklyn headquarters, where they enjoyed a barbecue party held in the finalists’ honor.
This year the 10 students on Moanalua’s team are under pressure to match if not exceed past teams’ performances. The trip to New York was an eye-opener that delivered more tools for collaboration.
"We learned a lot about how things work, organizational things, like how to get everybody talking," said senior Analise Austin. "People never want to tell each other their ideas," she said, due to fears about getting shot down or appearing self-important or arrogant.
Senior Jonathan Rosen, team captain, said they saw how many of the best mainland teams had a strong, unified theme for all their shoes, as well as a strong regional aesthetic, so the students are holding brainstorming sessions, tossing out ideas from steampunk to island mythology, then going home to draw, draw, draw and present their ideas to the group at follow-up sessions.
"As artists we all have our own visions, but coming together as a team involves compromise," said Rosen.
Rosen and Raymond Feliciano said they’ve been most inspired by the Syfy channel’s "Face-Off" competition in which special-effects makeup artists use prosthetics, casting and molding, 3-D design and makeup to create monsters, villains or simply age a person — all under tight time constraints.
Watching the competition has taught the students to "think insane, take risks and be good at time management," Feliciano said.
Right now the team, under the guidance of art instructor and adviser Jeff Fujimoto, is meeting about three times a week, and beyond art is learning the value of communication, respect and teamwork.
Students auditioned by submitting works of art, and one student was dropped from the team after missing the first meeting, said Fujimoto, who isn’t tolerating a lack of discipline.
"This is teaching them life lessons about working together, communicating," he said. "I notice as they go along they become more cohesive. We want kids to have an all-around education, and our principal (Darrel Galera) is a staunch supporter of fine arts, not only visual arts, but music and drama.
"It’s great for Moanalua, but it’s also great for students in Hawaii to see other students competing at a national level."
The Moanalua students were also willing to share their story, in part to encourage other island schools to enter.
"That’s real Hawaii style, that sense of community," Fujimoto said. "It’s bringing it to other people so that students from Hawaii can share their talents and skills. That’s where I also see people supporting local kids in whatever they do."
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For information on the Vans custom culture contest, visit www.vans.com/customculture or find it on Facebook at www.facebook.com/vanscustomculture. Designs by Vans Custom Culture winners Rio Rancho High School of New Meico will be sold at Vans and Journeys stores, and online at www.vans.com.
