Vans Custom Culture

  CCHS Advanced Art and DATA Di aligned their creative minds once again! This time it was for the 2011 Vans Custom Culture shoe design challenge. 

Vans, which have been worn on the feet of millions since quietly entering the late 1970's skateboard scene, have locked their employee's talents on sustaining creativity in today's high school classrooms by offering their 1st annual design competition. 

The CCHS team of traditional and digital artists worked collaboratively to visually represent the Coachella Valley in the categories of Street Art, Music, Action Sports, and Fashion. Even though the team did not win the online public voting for the California region which closed April 27th, they were still one of ten schools in the state and one of fifty in the nation!

View the amazing top 5 finalists @

Vans Custom Culture

 Learn more about how Vans supports arts, creativity, and education

by checking out offthewall.tv!

Where's the Beef?

Congratulations to graduating Di senior Christian Ramirez for his animation being awarded Best Short Film at the 2011 DigiCom Student and Teacher Film Festival!

The 2:55 minute short, Where's the Beef, took about 1.5 years to make using Flash CS5 and GarageBand.

After graduating, Christian will be attending California Baptist University in Riverside focusing on graphic design and digital imaging. He plans to further his studies to pursue a career in game design at either Full Sail, the Art institute, or the Gnomon School of Visual Effects.

Watch all the 2011 DigiCom videos here!

Shooting DigiCom

On May 2nd, Di students were proud to shoot the 2011 DigiCom Student and Teacher Film Festival. Ten students worked the event shooting the stage as well as paparazzi style portraits of winners and attendees. 

Visit the DigiCom website here!

2011 SkillsUSA State Gold

On May 1st, Di student Spencer McQuinn took the gold medal for photography by a landslide at the 44th Annual State Leadership Conference and SkillsUSAChampionships in San Diego, CA.  

Students in this highly challenging contest submitted written and photographic portfolios, interviewed with professionals, took knowledge and professional development tests, and completed an on-site photography shoot which included work finalized in Photoshop. 

Spencer, will be the only student from the state of California moving forward to compete in photography at the 47th annual National Leadership and Skills Conference in Kansas City, MO from June 20th-25th. As part of the award, his conference registration was paid for by the Professional Photographers of California.

This was DATA's first year competing at the SkillsUSA California state conference with a total of 5 individuals in photography and 5 teams in video product development. We look forward to expanding next year!

Learn more about SkillsUSA

A Spotlight on Digital Imaging

On April 30th, DATA sophomore Talyor Burns won the 2nd place award of $4,000.00 for photography at the 23rd Annual Music Center Spotlight Awards. This prestigious awards program showcases exceptionally talented youth from southern California who show great promise for careers in the art world. 

This was no ordinary photography contest and a first for the DATA Digital Imaging program. All student submissions were evaluated by leading professional artists who selected 15 semifinalists for each discipline. After Taylor's digital image Passion (above) made the cut, she was invited to interview with a panel of five photographers to receive personal feedback on her developing portfolio, as well as attend art workshops and museum tours in downtown LA.

The final award ceremony, hosted by Hell Boy's Ron Pearlman, was held in front of an audience of 3,000 people at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles. The cover photograph for the night's program was created by graduating DATA Di senior Spencer McQuinn.