LBHS Artist Finalist In Nationwide Art Contest

GARDEN CITY, NY — Denise Holz’s Media Arts students have put their best foot forward by participating in the Vans High School Custom Culture Contest. Garden City High School junior Lauren Blum has been selected as a finalist out of thousands of students in 250 schools for her whimsical gummy bear sneaker design.

“I wanted to design a shoe that would appeal to others my age and catch their attention,” said Blum. “I sketched my design using Procreate on my iPad just as soon as Ms. Holz encouraged us to participate in the contest.”

Blum and her Media Arts 2 classmates are working as a team to create a mini-collection featuring two pairs of Vans; one will represent “Hometown Pride” and the other features “Head in the Clouds.” Blum and her team’s shoes will be sent to Vans in mid-April for the final judging. The grand prize winner will receive $50,000, and four runners-up will receive $15,000 to support their school’s arts program. Ms. Holz, Mr. Karp, Mr. Fediw, Ms. Marino and Mr. Uttendorfer are keeping their fingers crossed for Blum and her classmates.

The Vans Custom Culture Contest was created to inspire and empower high school students to embrace their creativity through art and design, and draw attention to diminishing arts education budgets.

In May, Blum and her peer designers — Jillian Aprigliano, Emily Besendorfer, Christopher Boyle, Sharon Cunningham, Gabrielle Fecht, Alexandra Hopkins, Eliis Mele, Rebecca Melkonian, Emma Nallan, Samuel Obeck, Sela Scarangella and Leah Steadman — will learn if they are stepping into the limelight.