Vincent "Vinny" Corradi, a junior at Middletown Area High School (MAHS), recently participated in the annual Vans High School Custom Culture contest for high-schoolers, where students can customize blank Vans shoes with their original artwork.

Vinny has always loved art, and prior to entering the contest, he turned his creative talent into a profit by selling his hand-painted shoes through his Instagram account. As a Blue Raider wrestler, he was particularly excited to be contacted by wrestlers from Cornell University, Penn State University, University of Wyoming and Ohio State University to create custom wrestling shoes for them.

Vinny's shoes also caught the attention of one of his father's friends, who informed Vinny and his father about the Vans design competition. With the help of MAHS art teacher Liz Strite, Vinny completed the contest application. Since the contest recommended that several students take part in the process, Strite gathered a small group of students to collaborate on the themes to provide ideas for Vinny's designs.

This year's contest included two different themes to choose from: "Hometown Pride" and "Head in the Clouds." To coincide with the themes, students were asked to create designs that highlighted the special qualities of their schools' locations, their visions for the future and their local communities and designs that represented their schools' culture.

Vinny completed a drawing for the "Head in the Clouds" theme. After submitting the drawing, he soon learned that he was chosen as one of 250 student artists from across the country to advance to the next round of the competition, earning him and MAHS national recognition. He then painted two pairs of shoes, one for each contest theme, for the next phase of the competition.

For more details about the contest and to view the finalists, visit http://customculture.vans.com.