SLHS Art Program selected as finalist in Vans competition

The South Lafourche High School Art Department has been selected as a finalist in the 2022 Vans High School Custom Culture competition. The group of students are competing to win a $50,000 grand prize. Van’s created the contest to inspire and empower high school students to embrace their creativity through art and design.

The footwear and apparel company selected the themes Hometown Pride, and VanD(IY)oren Legacy for this year’s competition. Hometown Pride represents each school’s unique community, and VanD(IY)oren Legacy is a tribute to the co-founder of Vans, Paul Van Doren, who passed away in 2021. Voting to determine the winner is open until May 6, and can accessed online.

Seventeen art students at South Lafourche High School worked diligently to create both designs. Art Instructor Donna Pontiff said the Hometown Pride theme is not only meaningful to students but to the Lafourche community as well. “Our hometown pride shoes are an illustration of Hurricane Ida and the devastation we had here. Our school was destroyed, we had to throw away our materials and furniture, and we had to start from scratch just like a lot of people in our community have,” said Pontiff. “We didn’t place hurricanes on the shoes to say we’re proud of hurricanes, we chose that design because we’re proud of how we’re rebuilding. Some people lost everything but they’re still sticking with the areas, their families, our communities, and they’re rebuilding. We’re still rebuilding, we’ve been recovering since August 29, and that’s what we’re doing in our classes as well, that’s where the design came from.”

“Even though we were destroyed and set back because of the hurricane, this contest can help us build our program back up strong. Every vote counts, every single vote is helpful, and we appreciate every single person who gives us that thought and chance to win this contest,” Pontiff said. If they win, the art department will use the funds from the competition to provide supplies, materials, and repair damages caused by Hurricane Ida.

“The art program here at South Lafourche does not receive funding for materials or supplies, but every year we get donations, have fundraisers, and scrounge to find things that we need to help our students create art. Our program has created professional artists, people who are in set design, illustrators, and fine artists. So many people come through this department that work in art professionally, and we want to make sure that every student has an opportunity to move forward with art if that’s something they love to do,” Pontiff added.