Contestants of VASE, an art competition, entered art pieces into the regional competition. 1,626 of these pieces, including six from Legacy, qualified for advancement to the state finals in Bryan, Texas on April 4. From these qualifiers, 152 pieces of art are selected as Gold Seal award winners.

Five of the six competitors who advanced to state finals received Distinguished Artist Medals. For the seventh year in a row, a Legacy student won a Gold Seal award, the only one awarded to a Mansfield ISD student this year.

“It’s not just something you can prepare them for,” art teacher Ms. Louviere said. “We don’t force them to compete. We just decide which pieces they should enter.”

Junior Kendall Martinson, the Gold Seal State winner, won by entering a coil pot into the competition. In all, it took almost two months to make after forming the piece, glazing it twice and reforming it after it broke.

“I love flowers so I made these flower outlines and twisted each level of coils so it ended up looking like floating rings,” Martinson said. “I like how the colors turned out, and I thought it was interesting, so I entered it.”

Because of Legacy’s record as the only MISD high school who has won seven consecutive Gold Seal awards, other high schools have accused the Legacy Art Department of cheating.

“Overall, I think we always do very well,” art teacher Mr. Mason said. “Their work, their interviews; they always perform at top level. If they get up and talk to the judges, that’s already going above and beyond what we expect.”