Students to bring art to Permian

More than 300 entries from students across the region will be judged Saturday by local artists at Permian High School.

The Visual Art Scholastic Event, sponsored by the Texas Art Education Association, is a state and regional art competition for students to present their art before a judge, someone with a background in art, and have the opportunity to advance to the state competition.

Event coordinators said this year, there will be just more than 300 student entries from about 230 high school students. The high school students participating will come from Odessa, Midland, Andrews, Big Spring, Crane, Monahans, Pecos, Wink, Alpine, Fort Stockton, Marfa, Terlingua and Fort Davis. The event is expected to start at 9:30 a.m. with results announced by 4:30 p.m.

Laree Morris, art teacher at Permian High School and event director, said the event is a good opportunity for students to learn how to be interviewed by an adult and explain their art.

“It’s really a learning experience,” Morris said.

Morris said once the students are judged, they will receive a critique sheet with two praises and one critique, to help students improve.

“It gives art a standard of excellence,” she said.

The only requirement for the event is that students must be in grades nine through 12 and be passing all of their classes, Morris said. Across the state, about 24,000 students participate in the event and of those students about 2,200 are selected to advance to the state competition.

State VASE is on April 21, at Bryan High School in Bryan, which is near College Station.

“There’s opportunity at the state event,” Morris said, explaining possible scholarships or work and learning opportunities.

Keri Moore, a junior at Permian High School, said she’s looking forward to presenting her art Saturday. She said she had the idea to create a collage picture after reading magazines and thought the hair in the magazines would make for “a cool mane.” She said it took her about 10 hours to create the lion and sky in her piece, “Morning Pride.”

“I felt (the project) was something I couldn’t put down,” Keri said.

Other students are also passionate about their artwork.

For Krista Foxworth, junior at Permian High School, art is everything.

“It’s (art) the only thing I know how to do,” Krista said.

Krista worked on finishing up her mixed media art piece, “Under Construction” on Friday. She said the idea for her inspiration came to her as she was working on an exposed clock tower and thought of the similarities of construction in life.

“It seems like life is happening,” Krista said, pausing from working on her piece to study the picture. “People tear things down and have to build it back up.”

Krista said she competed last year and earned two medals for receiving a four on her piece, the highest score.

For Veronica Pool, a senior at Permian High School, the mixed media art piece she created is more than an entry in a competition; it’s a reflection of her struggles.

“It’s about my life and my family,” Veronica said as she worked her art piece which had had pictures surrounding a cylinder and aluminum wings coming out of the top.

Veronica said her piece, “Overcome,” symbolizes the things she has had to overcome in her life with her family, in particular some issues with her father. She said creating the piece was a way to truly express herself.

“It’s a good thing to tell and a good thing to talk about because it helps me be stronger,” Veronica said.

@OAschools