A JOURNEY OF ART AND RESILIENCE
Coastal-Inspired Masterpiece
A Louisiana-based artist wins Shrimp Fest poster contest on first try . Red Owen , a 72-year-old artist and U . S . Army veteran from Ragley , La ., has been named the winner of the 51st Annual National Shrimp Festival poster contest . The announcement was made today following a recent vote by the festival committee . The committee , which consists of nearly 100 volunteers who work yearround to put on the festival , asked for submissions from artists in the spring . After the submission deadline , the committee met and voted on the poster they believed best represented the hallmarks of the festival , including the beach , shrimp , art , and music .
This year , Owen ’ s work was chosen . “ I ’ ve been doing this for 40 years ; I ’ ve entered many poster contests , and I ’ ve lost a lot more of them than I have won ,” the longtime graphic and t-shirt artist said . Owen also added that this was the first time he had entered the poster contest for the Shrimp Festival . Owen said his inspiration for the poster design was Jimmy Buffett . “ It ’ s an idea I ’ ve had for a while . I ’ m proud of it and think it ’ s the best work I ’ ve done .”
Born and raised in the New Orleans area , Owen joked that he “ wasted his youth ” in the French Quarter , where he would often listen to Buffett who was a mere busker at the time . “ I ’ ll never forget he would come down on the weekends in an old Ford ,” Owen said . Along with his art being the face of the festival on marketing and merchandising , Owen will also receive a cash prize of $ 1,000 and will get to make his first trip to the festival , where he will be available for a poster signing ( location and time to be determined ).
The poster will first be available for purchase at 10 a . m . Oct . 10 , the festival ' s opening day . Pre-signed copies will be particularly sought after by collectors , as they will be individually numbered to 100 and bear Owen ’ s signature . Furthermore , the poster ' s design will be featured on the official Shrimp Festival t-shirt , and elements of the artwork will be incorporated into other official merchandise . More information on the festival ’ s activities , vendors , and music lineup will be released on myshrimpfest . com as summer wraps up .
“ WINNING THIS CONTEST IS A DREAM COME TRUE ,” OWEN SAID . “ BUT MORE THAN THAT , IT ’ S A REMINDER THAT NO MATTER HOW LONG THE JOURNEY , IT ’ S WORTH EVERY STEP .”
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