Have you heard of VAC? Our Amherst Art Club creates art and takes the artwork to competitions, and the main one is VAC, which stands for Visual Arts Classic. Joining Art Club and competing at VAC is perfect for students who love making art and want to take it to be judged.
The advisor for VAC is none other than Amherst art teacher Ms. Kaycie.
“VAC is about short- and long-term individual competitions on set, but there are also some group challenges where you do quiz bowl and critical thinking,” Ms. Kaycie explained.
Amherst’s involvement in VAC started when an art teacher from Manawa mentioned it to Ms. Kaycie, which made her think of encouraging the Amherst Art Club to join the competition. It sounded like a great way to allow her students who love art to show off their artistic skills. If you want to compete at VAC and join Art Club, you can talk to Ms. Kaycie. She also sends invitations to various students who have good artistic skills.
Several seniors have been competing at VAC every year, so I talked to them about why they joined and what were their favorite pieces.
“I’ve always been artistic, and Ms. Kaycie explained VAC to me freshman year,” said senior Lila McGuire. “That piqued my interest, and I have been involved ever since.” Her favorite pieces include a colorful downtown street in Italy and a watercolor image of Death Valley National Park.
“I decided to join VAC because I really enjoy making art, and my friends are on the team,” said senior Ava Lansing. “I love the drawing category. I think it gives me a lot of creativity to make whatever idea comes into my head.”
Senior Claire McKenzie said, “I joined VAC because I like art and trying new things.” Her favorite piece that she created was a mosaic of the sun and sky.
“I joined VAC freshman year because I loved the art classes I was taking, and everyone in VAC was making really cool art pieces,” added Lily Passwaters, who is also a senior. “My favorite art piece was a 3D stained glass piece with tulip designs that won a first place at state VAC.”
So what advice would our seniors give to students thinking of joining VAC?
“It’s very fun, but it’s easy to lose track time of amongst lots of other things, so make sure you do your project on time so you don’t have to scramble at the last minute,” Lila explained.
“I would tell students thinking of joining VAC that it’s so much fun and it’s a great way to embrace your creativity,” Ava said.
Claire advises students to just go for it. “It’s easy to participate in, and you are able to create a piece of art you can keep.”
“If you are thinking of joining VAC, just do it,” added Lily. “It is so much fun to see what other people create based on your prompt, and you get to spend time hanging out with your VAC friends and making art,”
So the answer is clear — VAC is a great opportunity. You can make art, enter your pieces in competitions, and make some friends.
