White Plains Outdoor Arts Festival Poster Winner Named
The White Plains Outdoor Arts Festival has been a community tradition for over 50 years. This fall, the Arts Festival committee decided to create a new tradition – they challenged White Plains High School students to design a commemorative Arts Festival poster.
The first winner of the new program is Anna Lao, a senior at White Plains High School. Her winning entry represents the theme “Creative Freedom.” The poster will be the featured marketing tool for the 2017 Outdoor Arts Festival.
The White Plains Outdoor Arts Festival has, for many years, annually awarded scholarships to White Plains High School Seniors who are going on to study art in college. A total of $73,500 in scholarships has been awarded by the Arts Festival Committee over the past six years alone. Given this long association with the White Plains School District, and specifically the school district’s Fine Arts Department, they were approached about the commemorative poster project. The Fine Arts Department responded with enthusiasm and the project was born.
Students interested in submitting a poster for consideration were asked to base their designs on one of three potential themes: The White Plains Outdoor Arts Festival itself, what art means to me, or what creative freedom means to me.
Anna said she selected “Creative Freedom” as her theme because she knew she could take the theme in any direction. “I didn’t really have a plan for my piece or expectations for it to look a certain way, which I think gave it a unique and creative feeling,” Anna explained.
Anna chose digital as her medium “because there are so many things you can do with it. Ranging from digital painting and illustration to graphic design, the medium allows me to easily experiment with a broad range of styles and color usage in my work.” Anna also said she loves working with vibrant, interesting colors.
A digital file of the winning poster will be provided to anyone who donates a minimum of $20 to the Arts Festival as a “thank you” for their donation. Donations may be made through the Festival website, www.whiteplainsoutdoorartsfestival.com and the Festival Facebook page. The digital file is sized so that it may be printed (best at 20” x 30”) and framed if desired, or used digitally as wallpaper or a screen saver. A framed version of the poster will also be a featured prize at the Festival’s popular Raffle Tent.
The Festival Committee hopes to make this poster contest a new annual tradition.
The White Plains Outdoor Arts Festival will be held on June 3 and 4, 2017 in Tibbits Park on North Broadway, White Plains.
