Thirty-eight Mount Pleasant High School Art students entered 61 art pieces in the Region 8 Visual Arts Scholastic Event (VASE) competition on February 12. Art pieces were scored as a 4 (Excellent), a 3 (Strong), a 2 (Developing), or a 1 (Emerging). Forty-five of the MPHS pieces received gold medals and the highest rating of 4, with the remaining 16 pieces scoring 3’s. In order to advance to state, the piece must first earn a rating of 4. All of the 4’s in a particular division are then judged a second time and state advancements are awarded based on an allotment, roughly 10% in each division. At the end of the day, eight MPHS students advanced to the state Visual Arts Scholastic Event (VASE) competition. Only 19 students in the entire region qualified for state so MPHS students made up over 40% of those advancing.

Earning scores of 4 (Excellent) and moving on to state are seniors Rossy Benegas for D.A.D., Mariana Gonzalez for Dreamer, Hydaet Izquierdo for Kurion, and Yael Zavala for El Firulais, juniors Litzy Gonzalez for Muralist and Silvia Sustaita for A Mother’s Tears, and sophomores Stephanie Hernandez for Flower Child and Kami Labutis for Screaming Old Man.

Gold medalists also earning scores of 4 (Excellent) are Elise Alcibar, Christopher Bello, Rosario Bello, Hannah Bowles, Parker Colley, Saray DelaRosa, Daivik Escobar, Jennifer Martinez, Rebecca Martinez, Jose Mata, Collin Moss, Diego Noyola, Luiz Olvera, Ayden Osterdock, Tisha Patel, Carolina Ramirez, Juan Ramirez, Hayden Tennison, Diana Vargas, Josue Vega, Kurion Walker, and Dayanara Yepez.

“My students worked so hard to create some amazing pieces of art and it is such an honor to be their teacher,” said MPHS Art instructor, Laura Kirkland. “I am humbled

to have the opportunity to mentor and work with such tremendous talent. Most of these students submitted 2 pieces and most received a gold medal for both artworks. Please congratulate these students for their superior work.”

The state Visual Arts Scholastic Event (VASE) competition will be held at San Marcos Consolidated High School on April 29-30.

Photo: VASE state advancing artists