MPHS art students advance to state VASE competition

• StatequalifierAilyenDeLaRosawithherpiece,Greatness
• Josue Vega’s 2nd state qualifying piece, AJ’s Truck COURTESY PHOTOS
• AilyenDeLaRosawithher2ndstatequalifyingpiece,Grandpa
• State qualifier Dayanara Pulquero with her piece, Red
• StatequalifierStephanieHernandezwithherpiece,Sunbathing
• State qualifier Josue Vega with his piece, The Boys

Mount Pleasant High School Art students entered 61 art pieces in the Region 8 Visual Arts Scholastic Event (VASE) competition on Saturday, February 24 at Chisum High School, competing against 17 schools in our area. Art pieces were scored as a 4 (Excellent), a 3 (Strong), a 2 (Developing), or a 1 (Emerging). Fifty-five of the MPHS pieces received medals and four students have advanced to state with six different works. Only 27 pieces out of 317 in the entire region qualified for state so MPHS students made up over 20% of those advancing.

In order to advance to state, the piece must first earn a rating of 4. All of the 4’s in a particular division are then judged a second time and state advancements are awarded based on an allotment, roughly 10% in each division. Earning scores of 4 (Excellent) and moving on to state are senior Stephanie Hernandez for Sunbathing, junior Josue Vega for two pieces titled AJ’s truck and The Boys, sophomore Ailyen DeLaRosa for two pieces titled Greatness and Grandpa, and sophomore Dayanara Pulquero with Red. This will be Hernandez’s third trip to state and Vega’s second.

Gold medalists also earning scores of 4 (Excellent) are Joaquin Arguello, Ritchie Alcibar, Jasmin Alvarez, Natalia Aspeitia, Alan Barrientos, Ana Bonilla, Rafael Calderon, Briana Chavez, Brianne Davis, Ailyen DeLaRosa, Brian DelCarmen Memije, Analee Escalante, Leilani Hardwick, Evelyn Hernandez, Stephanie Hernandez, Yvonne Huerta, Kami Labutis, Morgan Lee-Osbourne, Taylor Lee-Osbourne, Carolyn Loeaza, Mollie Luck, Emilia Marino, Jaydy Martinez, Rebecca Martinez, Mattie Merriman, Valerie Moss, Alyssa Narvaez, Ayden Osterdock, Tisha Patel, Ashley Pina, Katherine Plata, Dayanara Pulquero, Zayma Rodriguez, Cassandra Saavedra, and Josue Vega.

The state Visual Arts Scholastic Event (VASE) competition will be held at San Marcos High School on April 26-27. The MPHS Art program is under the direction of Laura Kirkland.