When Marcha Dakhan saw the photo, her jaw dropped.
This meant her artwork had gotten the highest score possible, a four.
Was she dreaming?
Dakhan, a freshman, competed in the annual Visual Arts Scholastic Event (VASE) art competition on Feb. 15 at Brandeis. Not only did she receive a four out of four score, but she also advanced to the state competition in April along with five other Marshall students.
Judges scored the pieces based on interviews with students and their artwork. All pieces that receive a four are displayed in a gallery where judges later choose 10% of those artworks to attend the state contest.
“I think one of the large things [students need to be successful] is just to be invested in the artwork that they make, so that they produce something that comes out well,” art teacher Kathryn Storck said. “The other big factor is making something that you are personally passionate about because a good chunk of that contest is the interview part.”
Storck guides participating students by making sure they submit all parts of the competition, giving advice on the art itself or even figuring out how to help them execute unique ideas. These unusual solutions include helping a student create a cast of her hand so she could display henna and putting Dahkan’s stained glass work inside a lightbox.
“I entered a piece inspired by stained glass,” Dakhan said. “My piece was a pane of glass that I painted with gallery glass, which is glass paint made to mimic stained glass, and asked Ms. Storck for help setting it up.”
After creating the physical work, Dakhan still needed to describe her process to her judge on the actual contest day.
“I was all nerves during my interview,” Dakhan said. “I jumped from topic to topic and wanted to make sure that the judge saw my entire thought process, though I soon settled in. The interview was great and the judge was really sweet. She absolutely loved my piece and encouraged me to keep going.”
Despite the fear students face in interviews, Storck believes that VASE is worth it, especially as one of the only contests for art students.
“It’s giving art students something to feel excited and accomplished about because – especially compared to a lot of other electives or courses where it’s more common to have events or contests to compete in – it sometimes feels like art just kind of hides in the corner.”
-Kathryn Storck
There’s also a reason that the gallery format of VASE is useful for students.
“It’s great, not only for them to have something that they’re motivated about and they work hard on, but then for the actual event you get to see that they meet other kids that are interested in the same stuff,” Storck said. “A lot of times, they look at the gallery and they get excited about all the different types of art they see.”
Dakhan agrees that VASE motivates students, saying that she’s excited to enter the contest with two pieces next year.
“Art itself is an absolutely breathtaking concept, and if I could, I’d talk about it for hours and hours,” Dakhan said. “It makes me so happy that there are programs and competitions like this out there. VASE really sparked my passion for art, and I really hope it does the same for other people.”