Contributed Above left, Addison Hernandez. Above right, Andres Briones. Below from left, Miley Gennett, Krish Thakor and Madekyn Rogers. These three students earned an ‘Exemplary’ score of 4, and received a state medal. For the full story, see page 8.
VASE
Page 8
Jackson County art students competed at the State VASE art competition and brought back some wins. Ganado art teacher and Regional VASE art director, Sarah Ardner, shared some winning news about the students who competed.
“All of our artists incredibly represented our school at the state event, which is dominated by the largest schools in Texas,” she said. “At the state event, they filled two gyms and an additional room with over 2000 pieces of artwork.”
At the top of the list is Ganado’s Abrielle Enriquez, who earned a Gold Seal for her clay sculpture of a coral reef, titled The Arch of Whispers.
Ardner said the Gold Seal is the highest honor of the State VASE event. “Earning a Gold Seal is like winning a state championship in art, it’s so rare,” she explained. “Out of 32,000 entries from across Texas, from schools of all sizes, 1A to 6A, Abrielle’s piece is in the top 150 entries, which is 0.5% of Texas.”
Her sculpture is now a part of an exhibit which will travel throughout Texas until the end of November 2026, and will also receive national attention. What an honor!
Last year Abrielle entered a clay sculpture of a coral reef as well, but it’s not as detailed and as big as the one she entered this year. She said it took three to four months to finish.
“I was very surprised when I learned I got a Gold Seal, I didn’t believe it at first,” she said.
Ardner added that when one adds up all of Abrielle’s state appearances throughout her high school career, including marching band, powerlifting and art, she’s competed at the state level nine times.
Abrielle is the daughter of Alma and Froylan Enriquez, and she plans on attending the University of North Texas and major in forensic science.
Additionally, the following students earned an “Exemplary” Score of 4, which earned them a State medal: Andres Briones of Ganado, Addison Hernandez of Ganado, Miley Genett of Edna, Madelyn Rogers of Edna, and Krish Thakor of Edna.
Two students earned a “Superior” Score of 3, Alina Ayala of Ganado, and Brooklyn Cameron of Industrial.
Ganado senior Andres Briones and his piece, Trial by Fire, is a self-portrait and was made from leather, which he burned his image onto. Self-taught, Andres said it took him nearly three months to complete the work, and used a fire torch to burn the edges, and a leather wood-burning tool for the details.
The inspiration behind Trial by Fire was to show that it’s not always about looks, but about personality.
Andres said he plans to study art and computer science at Texas A&M University-Victoria. He is the son of Reyes and Maria Briones.
“He’s faced a lot of adversity in his life, and I think it really speaks in his piece. The fire, the burning, the things he’s overcome, I think are really represented in this piece, and he displayed the piece on a ladder, because he continues to overcome it,” Ardner commented. “I thought it really represented him this year.”
Senior Alina Ayala entered her 3-D piece, Blue-Collar Bovine, and used wire, yarn, denim and cloth to finish her art. She said it took her about a month to finish it.
“When (Ardner) had us take our reference pictures for the year, I took a picture of some cows eating through a trough, and they had bars against it so they wouldn’t push through, and when their heads were sticking out, it poked out of the bars,” Alina said. “Ms. Ardner gave me the idea to make him come out of the frame.”
Alina is the daughter of Samuel Ayala and Sandra Barajas. She plans to study healthcare administration at Texas A&M University-Victoria.
“It was fun to experience state for the first time in art,” she said. Alina also attended a state competition in band as well.
“Her Blue-Collar Bovine is part of her AP portfolio, which will earn her college credit for her 3-D design class,” Ardner added.
Freshman Addison Hernandez of Ganado also burned leather for her piece, which is an image of her cousin. She said this is the first time that she’s tried burning leather, and was selftaught.
“I like to learn on my own, so it was a really huge challenge for me, but it also makes me feel challenged by trying to not let it get to me that I don’t get to talk to her,” she said. “It’s an emotional piece for me and I don’t think anyone understands about it until I explain it, and it’s a hard topic for me to talk about. This is my way of missing somebody and keeping them close to me.”
Her piece is titled, I Oven You, and has an interesting story behind its name.
“My cousin loves baking, and she came up with the saying one day, she said, ‘I oven you,’ and I said, ‘I oven you dough much,’” Addison explained. “It’s corny, but that was our theme.”
Although it took her around two and a half months to complete, getting over the emotional part in order to begin and finish was the hardest part for her.
“My cousin and I are so close and nothing can really separate us, so this was another way for me to share that,” Addison said.
She is the daughter of Vicky Ybarra and Robert Thomas Ybarra.
Andres, Abrielle and Alina are all completing AP portfolios through the college board, because the school district pays for them to take the AP exam. Andres earned college credit last year, so this is his second college portfolio.
Ardner gave some insight on her art students and their futures.
“A lot of them are choosing degrees in science and medical fields, and I find a lot of my artists go into those particular fields because the art and science process is really similar,” she said. “Taking risks, exploring options, experimenting and coming up with solutions, that way of thinking lends itself to the scientific method. I find it interesting.”
The Edna art students who medaled at the State VASE art competition are busy preparing for the UIL State Academic Meet, teacher Shannon Beaird said. A picture of them and their art is displayed in this issue of the newspaper.
An article about the Industrial art students who competed at the state level will be in the Jackson County Herald- Tribune next week.
