Three art students advanced to the state level after the VASE competition held at Cedar Ridge High School on Feb. 4. VASE is an art competition open to high school students across Texas. Freshman Gabby Cohen, junior Julia Elting, and sophomore Allison Jeffcoat earned a 4, the highest score possible, at the competition out of over 1500 entries.

“It was actually really scary,” Cohen said. “It was a huge school. We had to go there and wait in really long lines to get approved, and they had to put a stamp on your paper so you could get interviewed by one of the judges.”

Cohen, an Art 1 student, placed with her painting of a heart.

“I painted a heart because I want to be a cardio surgeon when I’m older,” Cohen said. “That’s kind of what inspired me to paint it.”

Elting is in Photo 2 and submitted a photograph of a place in Munich for the competition.

“A couple of days before I took the picture there was a terror attack on Munich,” Elting said. “The people sit together on the water, so it’s kind of a happy feeling that this picture presents.”

Jeffcoat, also in Art 1, submitted a chalk self portrait on black paper.

“I’ve always liked to draw,” Jeffcoat said. “Art 1 just got things going I guess.”

Many other students submitted pieces, but since it was a large competition, they didn’t place.

“I [heard] a lot of other people doing [VASE] and this is my first year taking an art class,” freshman Naiyah Wallace said. “I thought I could do something else with it and I kind of wanted to keep with art.”

Overall, students say they enjoy being in their art classes.

“The teacher is really nice,” Cohen said. “The class itself is just really fun. I’m in Art 1 right now, so we get to do a lot of stuff in class.”