In February of this year, the Erie County Fair put out a call for artists to submit designs for the 183rd Erie County Fair. I'd missed the email, and a friend who is also an artist and Fair fan told me about it and suggested that I enter. I'm not a poster maker, but I had an idea, and thought I might enter, just for fun.
The call was to submit a sketch of the proposal, photos of past work, an an artist's statement. At the eleventh hour, I found my original idea unworkable, and a little dull. A day before deadline, I basically gave up. I went for a walk to clear my head and to berate myself for not being much of an idea guy.
In the middle of that walk, I had a vision: tell the story of how I view "The Best 12 Days of Summer." Graphically, colorfully, in a very woodcut way.
I drew and inked my cartoon and got my application in just before deadline. I loved my concept, but I knew it didn't have the slick look and clean lines of modern computer-aided posters, and so I just prided myself on getting into the mix.
A few days later, while I was expecting a "thank you for entering, however...," I was pretty surprised to be informed that I was in the top 3. WOW!
The next step was to interview with the Commemorative Poster Committee. A wonderful group asked me questions about my own history as a Fairgoer, and were genuinely interested in my medium. They graciously let me ramble on for half an hour. As I walked home, I was full of pride for achieving that, and expecting to win the third place slot.
A couple days later, walking downtown to my bus on a sunny afternoon, I received the call.
They loved the design. They loved my passion for the fair. They were intrigued by the process.
I would be creating the poster for the 2023 Erie County Fair.
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