Vans Custom Culture Competition Champions Youth Creativity For A Decade

Registration opens for the nationwide high school art competition to support art education and creative expression

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Jan 02, 2019, 10:02 ET

COSTA MESA, Calif., Jan. 2, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Vans, the original action sports brand and icon of creative expression, invites public and private high school art students to participate in the tenth year of Vans Custom Culture. Vans Custom Culture was created to provide high school students a platform to showcase their creative abilities, while providing access to underfunded art programs. This year marks a decade of Vans' continued dedication to giving back to the arts through its competition where students have a chance to win a grand prize of $75,000 and $10,000 to four runner-up schools.

"Vans Custom Culture is a shining example of how we bring our brand's purpose of enabling creative expression to life," shares Kristy Van Doren, Senior Director of Brand Marketing in North America. "The competition has inspired more than 12,000 high schools and Vans has donated more than a million dollars to support art education to fuel creativity across the country. We've reached a huge milestone of 10 years and are proud of what's to come."

Starting today and through January 31 at 5 p.m. PST, high school art teachers and administrators can register their schools on the Vans Custom Culture website to be one of the 500 schools vying to win the grand prize. Vans has partnered with Yoobi, who will provide a box of basic art supplies to help students bring their artwork to life. The selected schools will be asked to design 2 blank pairs of shoes illustrating the themes of: "Local Flavor" and "Off The Wall." In addition to their shoes, schools will also submit their Impact Document to help Vans determine the top 50 participants. Then it's up to each school to rally the public to vote on April 22 – May 3 to be one of the top five finalists. The grand prize-winning school will receive a surprise visit from Vans and its partners, Americans for the Arts and Journeys, for a lunch time celebration, filled with giveaways and a presentation of the $75,000 check. The four runner-up schools will each be awarded with $10,000 and a limited-edition Vans gift.

"Vans Custom Culture is creative expression," said Mitch Whitaker, General Manager of Vans North America. "We are committed to inspiring our youth community to not only express themselves through art but to showcase that there is no limit to where their creativity can take them."

For information and registration guidelines visit Vans Custom Culture at customculture.vans.com or watch a Vans Custom Culture 2018 overview to learn more.

About Vans
Vans^®, a VF Corporation (NYSE: VFC) brand, is the original action sports footwear, apparel and accessories brand. Vans^® authentic collections are sold in 84 countries through a network of subsidiaries, distributors and international offices. Vans^® has over 2,000 retail locations globally including owned, concession and partnership doors. The Vans^® brand promotes creative self-expression in youth culture across action sports, art, music and street culture and delivers progressive platforms such as the Vans Park Series, Vans Triple Crown of Surfing^®, Vans Pool Party, Vans Custom Culture, and Vans' cultural hub and international music venue, House of Vans.