Announcing the Top 20 for 2023 Annual Poster Art Contest
HOLLAND, Mich., Oct. 26 2022 - Tulip Time announces the Top 20 finalists for the annual First Bloem Festival Artwork Competition, through which a work of art is selected for the official Tulip Time poster.
After carefully reviewing more than 97 stunning submissions, the Top 20 finalists for 2023 include:
“All are Welkom” by Cidy Bender
“Ready to Reign” by Betsy Buurma-Morton
“Grand Perfection” by John Cowden
“Tulips, Windmills and Mondrian” by Charles Cusack
“Talk of the Town” by Kristin Doversberger
"Tulip Patch" by Patricia Flynn
“Hollandia” by Thea Grigsby
“On a Spring Day” by Carol Hall
“Spring Blooms” by Karen Johnson
“Never Too Many” by Karen Johnson
“It’s Tulip Time!” by Steve Leary
“Tulip Daydream” by Andrea Rich
“Twee Landen, een Geest” by Lori Rivera
"Tulip Treasures" by Anne Rivers
"Evening Tulips” by Conni Schaftenaar
"Tulip Maze" by Michael Stewart
“Blended Colors of Spring” by Carolyn Stitch
“In the Round” by Sandy Swartzentruber
“Time to Celebrate” by Dian Taylor
"Let’s Dance" by Sally Yugovich
The winner of the 2023 poster will be announced on Feb. 23 at the First Bloem Reveal, a special unveiling reception for the generous sponsors of Tulip Time. Following the event, posters, mugs, ornaments, and much more will be available for purchase at store.tuliptime.com.
Click here for link to images of the top 20
Each year, Tulip Time invites a juror to select the Top 20 pieces for First Bloem. Professor Margaret Vega, who teaches Undergraduate and Graduate Painting at Kendall College of Art and Design, is the 2022 juror. Professor Vega has also taught at Academia di Belle Arti in Perugia, Italy, and Grand Valley State. In addition to extensive national and international exhibitions, her work is in private and corporate collections in the US, Canada, Mexico, and Europe.
Vega said many strong pieces of art were submitted this year. “I was interested in the variety of materials, from photography to cut paper, used to express the beauty and emotion of Tulips. I was attracted to several pieces immediately for their balance and unique approach to the guidelines.”
The First Bloem Festival Artwork Competition began in 2011 for local West Michigan artists. Residents of Ottawa, Allegan, Kent, Muskegon and Kalamazoo counties are invited to enter. The theme of the artwork must represent Tulip Time’s mission to celebrate Holland’s tulips, Dutch heritage, and the ever-growing diversity of our community.
Until 2010, Tulip Time commissioned work from a selected group of artists. The First Bloem competition began in its current format in 2011. Recent winners of the competition include Kate Moynihan (2022), Aron Lowe (2020) and Carolyn Stich (2019). In 2021, due to COVID, Lowe was commissioned to create a partner piece to her winning design from 2020. In 2022, Kate Moynihan won the competition. As part of the competition, the top 20 artists’ works will be on display during the May festival and viewers can vote on their favorite. The winner of the most votes will receive the People’s Choice Award.
Celebrating 94 years, the Tulip Time Festival is May 6 – 14, 2023, offering new, unique experiences and time-honored traditions. Tickets for special events can be purchased at www.tuliptime.com, in person at the Tulip Time Festival Box Office located at 42 West 8th Street, Holland, Michigan, or by phone at 800-822-2770.
Since 1929, Tulip Time has brought hundreds of thousands of tulip blossoms to the city of Holland, Michigan. Set to breathtaking sights just off the shores of Lake Michigan, our festival celebrates all that Holland has to offer, showcasing stunning tulip displays, honoring Dutch Heritage, and celebrating Holland’s growing community today.
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