The Vans® brand is sending out a call to high school art classes across the United States to join its Vans Custom Culture program and participate in a sneaker customization contest. The contest will culminate with an expenses-paid trip to Los Angeles for representatives of four schools and enable these students to participate in an art showcase, where they will have a chance to win $10,000 for their school's art program.

Registration for the Custom Culture contest begins on March 1 at www.vans.com/customculture. Each art class that registers will receive four pairs of Vans® shoes to be used as the canvas on which to display its students' collective creativity. Vans will accept entries from up to 10 schools per state and Washington D.C., allowing up to 510 schools to participate. An online gallery will showcase the complete collection of submissions for the world to see.

A Vans® panel will select the top five art classes from each of four regions. These 20 schools will then compete to be among the final four schools chosen by a celebrity panel to make the trip to Los Angeles. Winning schools will each receive a budget for the trip that includes a welcome dinner, a tour of Vans' headquarters, and a day of fun sightseeing in Southern California. The trip will wrap up with a final event held at a Los Angeles art gallery, where one of the four schools will be selected as the overall winner and earn a grand prize pack for their class, tickets to the Vans Warped Tour in their area and a $10,000 donation to their school's art program.

"In a time when schools are faced with shrinking budgets, art education is often a discipline that is overlooked," said Doug Palladini, Vans' Vice President of Marketing.  "Vans has always supported creative expression, and we hope the Custom Culture program will inspire young art students and draw attention to high school art programs nationwide."

For official contest rules and additional information on the Custom Culture contest, please visit www.vans.com/customculture.