{"id":57481,"date":"2017-12-19T18:07:56","date_gmt":"2017-12-19T23:07:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/?p=57481"},"modified":"2017-12-19T18:11:15","modified_gmt":"2017-12-19T23:11:15","slug":"artpop-2018-billboard-competition-winners-announced","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/?p=57481","title":{"rendered":"ArtPop 2018 Billboard Competition Winners Announced"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Featured Image By: Emily Cummins<\/p>\n

Eight area artists, including one high school winner, to have their work featured on Adams Outdoor Advertising billboards in 2018<\/u><\/u><\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

BETHLEHEM, PA\u2014A colorful underwater landscape by a Nazareth high school senior and a 3D CGI\/digital work by an 18-year-old, self-taught 2D\/3D designer highlight the eight winning works in the 4th<\/sup> annual ArtPop Billboard Competition presented by Adams Outdoor Advertising and the nonprofit ArtsQuest. The winning artists, selected via a juried competition, will have their work displayed on Adams Outdoor Advertising billboards on major thoroughfares in the region from the week of Jan. 8<\/span> through the end of December 2018.<\/p>\n

This year\u2019s ArtPop competition featured a record number of submissions, with nearly 200 entries. Among the eight winners is 18-year-old Ryen Valentin of Allentown, who created a dynamic computer generated image titled \u201cHARAJUKU DAYLIGHT,\u201d and Kathryn Dawe of Nazareth Area High School, who impressed the judges with her acrylic painting of an octopus, \u201cEmerging From The Deep.\u201d Dawe will not only have her work on a billboard for all of 2018, she will also be awarded a $1,000 scholarship to a Kutztown University art program by the Kutztown University Foundation.<\/p>\n

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ArtPop founder Wendy Hickey (left) and high school winner Kathryn Dawe. (Photo By Emily Cummins)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cWe are overwhelmed with the incredible number of local artists who submitted their artwork this year,\u201d says Adams Outdoor Advertising General Manager Tony Cioffi. \u201cThe 190 entries are a new record and all of the submissions were outstanding. \u00a0It was extremely hard work for our judges to select only a handful of winners.\u201d<\/p>\n

As part of the ArtPop competition, the official jurying panel selected six artists ages 18 or older to be featured on area billboards next year, with Valentin\u2019s work to be located in Warren County as part of the ArtPop program\u2019s expansion into New Jersey. The eighth winner, Cecelia Grant of Kutztown, was chosen as the \u201cPeople\u2019s Choice Winner\u201d through a public vote that ended Dec. 13. More than 4,100 people voted in the competition this year.<\/p>\n

\u201cQuilting, painting, ceramics and so much more – the Class of 2018 ArtPop Lehigh Valley artists will truly make area residents\u2019 commute so much more enjoyable,\u201d says ArtPop founder Wendy Hickey. \u201cWe are proud and grateful to be back in the Lehigh Valley and surrounding counties for the fourth year in a row.\u201d<\/p>\n