Multiple art students are representing De Soto High School by participating in a national contest.  Sophomores Pierce Nunley and Morgan Cravens, juniors Sam McGuire and Carly Newhouse and senior Emily Euler are working together to decorate ‘Vans’ shoes.

The shoes, which were submitted April 10, are part of the Custom Culture competition made by the Vans company for high schools all across the United States. Schools register and are sent four blank pair of Vans shoes to convey four different themes: art, music, local flavor and action sports (sports associated with boards).  

“I did the local flavor and the music one,” Newhouse said.

She and other students decorated one of the shoes to represent Kansas City’s local flavor, and the other to show local music.  

DHS has competed in this art competition before.  

“This is the third year we will submit shoes,” art teacher Tim Mispagel said.  “I feel like the first year we were fairly close [to winning], but it’s [judged] as a school, not as an individual. It’s thousands of schools that we are competing against.”

The students participating had to put time in outside of school and work on a canvas some of them weren’t familiar with. Newhouse worked on her shoes outside of school for around an hour. This was her first time doing art on a shoe, which she described as “interesting.”  

Mispagel chose the competing students for specific reasons.  

“Some of it was decided by their strengths,” Mispagel said.  “Carly Newhouse has a strength in the zentangle style and can work pretty quickly at that; so does Pierce. Sam McGuire is really strong in oil painting and so is Emily, so we have broken it up based on their abilities and interest.”

Newhouse used a pen to zentangle her shoes, along with Nunley, who helped design and create the action sports shoe.  

“I’m gonna have [this character] do different sports on each panel,” Nunley said.

One panel features delicately drawn waves with a surfer balancing on his board.  

The top five schools will be flown to Los Angeles to have their art judged for the grand prize, $50,000 to their school’s art program. The winner will be notified on May 5.