VAPA Honors Candidates are dedicated, motivated, and creative individuals who stand apart from their peers and deserve to be recognized for their hard work and determination. Honors Candidates are dedicated to the arts and education. This dedication is reflected in their attendance both at school, in their Arts courses, and in their performances. VAPA Honors Candidates are absent from their Arts courses fewer than 10 times in their senior year and performing artists (Music, Theatre, and Dance) are present for all shows and performances. Honors students are motivated in the arts and this motivation is evident in their co-curricular interests and activities. Visual artists (Drawing and Painting and Ceramics) exhibit or submit their work to at least two off-campus exhibitions. Honors students are creative and apply their interests and skill to the benefit of their peers and community. This creativity is evident to all through their efforts to share their vision and unique perspective through a VAPA Department approved project that reflects these skills.

The Honors Project is the demonstration or exhibition of the expressive skill you have learned in the Arts. Honors projects can take many forms and be quite imaginative, that is why the VAPA department has the proposal process to help a student refine their ideas before creating or performing their Honors Project. If you are a thespian, for example, you may have proposed a project that's something like a monologue, or a one act with your friends. For the performing arts, the Honors Project must be performed and documented for an audience in your community. Performers should also enlist the help of a friend or family member to document (record) the performance. A video of the event is a good example of this. If you are a visual artist, you may choose to create a mural. Murals are by far the most common visual arts Honors Project on campus. Creating a mural benefits your community by creating a sense of place and often express an identity. For visual artists, still images are probably the best documentation and are best when they show the entire process of creating the Honors Project.

Seniors that meet expectations for graduating with honors from the Visual and Performing Arts must show their mastery in their specific discipline of choice during their senior year. This takes the form of what we call an Honors Project. Senior VAPA Honors Candidates must propose an honors project and have it accepted by the department prior to beginning that project or performance. Once approved, Honors Candidates document their project or performance through still images or video and complete an Honors Project reflection. Upon successful completion of the Honors Project and reflection, the award will be presented at senior awards night with a certificate of achievement and the maroon cord for the Visual and Performing Arts which they may wear with their graduation gown at graduation.