Many school activities cater to those that enjoy sports. One club caters to those that enjoy art. A club that allows students to express their love for art not only as a hobby, but as a competition, acknowledging their creativity. Visual Art Classic, also known as VAC, is an art competition in which countless students from different schools are able to compete. AHS teams over the years have even received multiple awards for winning certain categories!
Several different categories that make up the VAC team. Students apply to compete in drawing, painting, printmaking, ceramics, sculpture, art history, design, photography, functional art, time-based media, mixed media, or digital art categories. If none of the categories fit your needs, one can apply to be a manager or an alternate.
A manager within VAC has many different responsibilities. They’re responsible for helping fill boxes, create locker decorations, and complete any extra tasks Ms. Kaycie throws at them. On the other hand, alternates are people that sub in for the main team players if they aren’t able to compete. While alternates can choose any category as well as do both on-site and long term competing, the points they receive aren’t put toward the team’s overall score.
The competing team has twelve members that participate in Long Term, On-Site, Quiz Bowl, and a Team On-Site contest. Long Term projects require every member to individually create an art piece using the prompts provided. All Long Term pieces must be completed before regionals in order to be scored by people who volunteer to be judges. The On-Site portion happens during regionals by placing each member in a different classroom based on their category, giving them a prompt to follow, and scoring their work after they finish.
Quiz Bowl questions are based on several artists — who may be known worldwide, historically, or even locally — who are chosen to represent both the theme and category prompts of VAC each year. Every school must send in multiple questions about the selected artists, which will later be used during Quiz Bowl. Finally, the Team On-Site competition involves each team member working together to create a large art piece that follows the prompt they are given. If an individual gets first place in either Long Term or On-Site, as well as the team getting first in Quiz Bowl or the Team On-Site, they automatically get to compete at state, which will be held in Madison.
We sent out a questionnaire to a few team members and we interviewed Ms. Kaycie about their thoughts and responsibilities regarding VAC.
Ms. Kaycie is the Amherst High School art teacher as well as the head of the art club and VAC. Just recently she became one of the coordinators that will run VAC this year. While most students have only been in VAC for a few years, Ms. Kaycie has been running VAC at AHS since 2014 with only a few gap years when she had her children.
“I really like seeing the commodity of all the art students together, whether it be the individual projects or group projects,” Ms. Kaycie said.
This is her first year coordinating, so she is very nervous about regionals, but it she is still excited.
“This year is the most organized, so I’m feeling really good about it,” she added.
Although Ms. Kaycie is organizing VAC this year, she will share responsibilities with Tina Lepak from Pacelli Catholic School. There are many tasks necessary to organize VAC, including finding judges, coordinating schedules and rooms, talking with people at UW-Stevens Point, and “all the little details everyone else forgets about.” But Ms. Kaycie puts an extensive amount of effort into VAC because she wants every student to have a wonderful experience creating, competing, and spending time with friends.
Paige Lemke and Lila McGuire are both juniors at AHS and are both competing within the painting category. Paige has been in VAC for two years now; last year she competed in design and created beautiful jewelry.
“I joined VAC because I like art,” Paige said. Her favorite part of VAC is the regional competition that is held at UWSP, and she’s feeling extremely excited about it. For her Long Term art piece, Paige did not reveal much, but she’s planning on painting a sunrise.
Lila has been in VAC for the past three years. Even though Lila is known for her beautiful artwork, she said the only reason she joined the group is because, “Ms Kaycie talked me into it.” Her favorite part about VAC is going to state in Madison and enjoying the extra time the team has to explore the city with her friends. As for her Long Term art piece, Lila is planning to do a watercolor of mountains in Death Valley and she can’t wait to compete at regionals this year.
Meanwhile, Ila Culver and Claire McKenzie are both alternates on the team; Claire is a ceramics alternate and Ila is a painting alternate. Claire has been part of the team for three years, and Ila has been involved for one. They both joined because they love art.
Ila is excited yet nervous about the upcoming competition, but it was an easy decision to join the team.
“I love art and want the experience of having my work judged,” Ila said. “The best part about VAC is figuring out what you want to do and seeing it come to life.” Ila is planning on creating a painting.
Claire’s reason for joining the team is quite simply because she thought it seemed fun – aside from liking art.
“I am excited to see what everyone makes at the competition,” Claire said. “The best part about VAC is that you have many people to give you helpful feedback on your art.” Additionally, her Long Term project is going to be a watercolor painting of a river, which will be matted within a window frame.
VAC is an art competition that holds many different art categories, as well as managers, or alternative positions for others to take part in. With the help of Ms. Kaycie and her goal of giving everyone a good experience, VAC is an extracurricular for anyone to join. This club supports the many students that want the opportunity to express their creative skills, allowing the members to both grow their art career as well as the chance to do something they love.
