Vans Custom Culture Program Seeks to Promote Creative Self Expression Amongst High School Students Nationwide

Second Year of National Art & Design Contest Allows High School Students to Compete for a Chance to Win a $50,000 Donation Towards Their Art Program

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Vans

Feb 10, 2011, 09:00 ET

CYPRESS, Calif., Feb. 10, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Today Vans, the original Southern California surf and skate brand, announced a nationwide call for high school students from across the United States to join Vans' second annual Custom Culture program: a sneaker customization design contest. Students will submit Vans shoe designs for a chance to win $50,000 towards their high school art program and be one of five schools chosen to attend and display their work at a museum event in New York City this spring. Last year, 326 schools nationally took part in Vans Custom Culture, with art students from Rio Rancho High School of Rio Rancho, New Mexico taking top honors.

"We were inspired by the incredible number of students who responded to the inaugural Custom Culture program and are thrilled this year to allow more schools to participate," said Doug Palladini, Vans' Vice President of Marketing. "Supporting creativity is central to Vans' culture and this platform helps us call attention to the dwindling funding for arts education in this country in an impactful way."

The Vans Custom Culture contest begins registration on Friday, February 11, 2011, and will accept entries from up to 20 schools per state. High school students from art programs in five regions, including Northeast, Southeast, Northwest, Southwest and California, will have a chance to collectively tap into their creativity to craft designs for four pairs of Vans shoes, to be submitted for judgment. All registration and submissions will take place via the Vans Custom Culture Web site at vans.com/customculture. An online gallery will exhibit the complete collection of submissions for the world to see.

After the initial judging panel selects the top 50 submissions, Vans will open the voting to consumers through an online platform, thereby narrowing down the competition to the top school in each region.

Winning schools from each region will receive a trip to New York City in June, and will participate in the final event gala held at a world-famous art museum. A Vans panel of industry experts will deliberate to select the winner of the 2011 Vans Custom Culture program and the winning school will be announced at the gala.

For official rules, program information, registration and submissions, visit the Vans Custom Culture Web site at www.vans.com/customculture. To view past and present Custom Culture designs, interact with other Custom Culture fans, and ask questions about the Vans Custom Culture program, visit www.facebook.com/vanscustomculture.

ABOUT VANS: Vans, the original action sports footwear and apparel company, is a brand of VF Corporation (NYSE: VFC). Vans collections include authentic footwear, apparel and accessories, snowboard boots and the Pro-tec line of protective gear and are sold in the United States through more than 230 company owned stores as well as independent retailers. Internationally, Vans sells its goods in approximately 70 countries through a network of subsidiaries, distributors and foreign offices. Vans promotes action sports lifestyle and youth culture through support of athletes on boards and bikes all over the globe and through progressive events such as the Vans Triple Crown of Surfing®, the Vans Downtown Showdown, the Pro-tec Pool Party and the Vans Warped Tour®.

For more information on Vans, please visit www.vans.com.

SOURCE Vans