HOLLAND, Michigan — Tulip Time Festival introduced the First Bloem Festival Artwork Competition on Monday. The winner will be featured on the 2022 festival poster, event officials announced.
Each year, the festival team picks a juror who will choose the top 20 pieces in the competition. For the 2022 contest, Mary Sundstrom, visual artist and Exhibitions Director of the Holland Area Arts Council, was selected.
The posters were commissioned from artists until 2010. In 2011, the annual competition began, awarding a local artist the honor of having their artwork featured on the poster.
Over the last decade, nine local artists have been featured, including:
- Beth Charles in 2011 – “Drama Queens”
- Brittany Strabbing in 2012 – “Beautiful Dream”
- Maggie Schultz in 2013 – “Clothed in Splendor”
- Karin Nelson in 2014 – “Resilience”
- Carolyn Stich in 2015 – “Joy of Spring”
- Alla Dickson in 2016 – “Spectacle”
- Michele Gort in 2017 – “Playful Time”
- Cindy Awrey in 2018 – “Together”
- Carolyn Stich in 2019 – “Enduring Delft”
- Aron Lowe in 2020 – “Dutch Dance”
The competition did not commence per tradition in 2021. This year’s poster design was commissioned. It featured work by local artist Aron Lowe, a Fennville resident, who also won the Holland Farmer’s Market t-shirt design competition in July.
Artists in Ottawa, Allegan, Kent, Muskegon and Kalamazoo counties are invited to submit their work for the grand reemergence of the competition.
Submissions are accepted from Sept. 27 to 30. The artwork should represent the mission of the festival, celebrating Holland’s tulips and Dutch culture.
A special unveiling of the winner will be held in February, at the First Bloem Reveal ceremony.
For more information and to submit a design, visit the Tulip Time Festival’s website here.
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