Professional and student artists at the University of Alabama at Birmingham will help seven Birmingham City high school students paint custom designs on shoes March 27 and March 29.
The design boot camp is part of Growing Kings’ #GKChucks Student Design Competition. The winning student designs were chosen by vote on Growing Kings’ social media accounts March 12-15, with one additional design picked as the Growing Kings staff favorite.
The selected students will work with UAB College of Arts and Sciences’ Department of Art and Art History faculty and students to create the designs on new pairs of shoes. The students include Jessica Joseph, Joel Rios and Maalik Camp of Carver High School, Darrian King of Huffman High School, and Raheem Shabazz of Woodlawn High School.
Once completed, seven pairs of one-of-a-kind Chuck Taylor Converse shoes will then be auctioned during the Growing Kings’ third annual fundraising Chucks & Tux gala set for April 21 at Roots and Revelry. Upon completing the design boot camp, each of the seven students will receive an iPad Mini.
The design boot camp workshops are set for 1-5 p.m. Tuesday, March 27, and Thursday, March 29, in the CAS Abroms-Engel Institute for the Visual Arts, Room 260.