TEACH • LEARN • ADVOCATE • CONNECT

Welcome to Junior VASE!

TEACH. LEARN. ADVOCATE. CONNECT.

High School VASE, Junior VASE, TEAM, and State VASE — Equal Partners Under TAEA

The mission of the TAEA Visual Art Scholastic Event (VASE) is to recognize exemplary student achievement in the Visual Arts by providing art students and programs a standard of excellence in which to achieve.

BIG NEWS regarding the 2024-2025 VASE Program!

Regional Directors are no longer allowed to "fix" entries for teachers after VASE deadlines. This means that teachers and students should work to complete artwork and the entry process at least 3-5 school days BEFORE each deadline. For more information and our suggestions to make this season a success for you and your students, click the button below.

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Participant Info

Junior VASE

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JRVASE Home
JRVASE Overview
JRVASE Teacher Manual (UPDATED FOR 2025)
Student Intent Form (PDF) (PRACTICE ONLY) — English | Spanish
Universal Artwork Release Form (PDF) — English | Spanish — Turn in at Event
Regional Director Application
UIL Eligibility Requirements (External)
VASE Blue Ribbon Committee

New VASE Policies
New Policy Highlights for 2025

Mission Statement

The mission of the TAEA Junior Visual Arts Scholastic Event is to recognize exemplary student achievement in the Visual Arts by providing art students a program with a standard of excellence in which to achieve.

History of Junior VASE

The first successful VASE Middle School pilot was held on April 24, 1999. The pilot was designed to determine if a VASE program would benefit the students in middle school art. This event was a tremendous success with 6 districts, 9 schools, and 10 teachers represented. 57 Middle School art students submitted their works of art for the interview process. A second pilot for Junior VASE was in April of 2000 and had 2 school districts, 7 schools and 70 students. After that Junior VASE became an official program for Intermediate, Middle Schools, and Junior High Schools in Texas in 2001. Junior VASE encompass grades 6 through 8.

Regional Events may occur from late March to mid May on a Saturday. The regional event is the culminating event for Junior VASE followed by the Platinum Event. Currently there are events in every region except 2, 5 ,and 9. Several regions have multi events.

To participate, teachers must be a member in good standing with TAEA and submit all required participation information online at http://www.taea.org/VASE/. An entry fee of $15 for each regional entry is required, and students may enter two pieces. The artworks are judged by a team of certified jurors.

Events are scheduled within the 20 TEA regional education service centers. Each region has a Regional Director(s) responsible for planning and running of their event. These events can be found on the Regional Locator map of Texas. The locator map will give you the information for your Regional Director and the dates and location for their event. Jurors will look for originality of concept, technical expertise, understanding of the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS), and the interpretation of the student's stated intent. The jurors evaluate the art using the following standards:

Rating 4 — Excellent
Rating 3 — Strong
Rating 2 — Developing
Rating 1 — Emerging

Students register for four different experience levels depending on the student current Level in art. All Level 1 students (or has completed but not advanced to 2) will compete in Division 1, all Level 2 students (or has completed but not advanced to 3) will be Division 2, All Level 3 students will be in Division 3, and all students in Pre AP art or High School ArtI will be in Division 4. Medals are awarded to students receiving a Rating of 4 in each division and will be judged again for the Platinum Event based and 10 % in each Division will receive a Platinum Medal. Images of these artworks will be posted on the TAEA website.