The Hogansville Charitable Trust has selected the artwork that will represent this year’s Hogansville Hummingbird Festival posters, guidebooks, and T-shirts. The nonprofit organization sponsors the annual festival, now in its 18th year, on the third weekend of October in downtown Hogansville.
Callaway High School sophomore Stefany Park’s whimsical hummingbird was chosen from among 17 entries, said selection committee chair Mary Stewart.
“It was a difficult decision because we had so many great entries. Ultimately we felt that Stefany’s vibrant, colorful hummingbird really symbolizes the festival spirit,” she said. “It’s very creative and festive.”
Park has loved creating art since she was a little girl. She enjoys art classes in school but also teaches herself by watching YouTube tutorials and videos on art technique. And she is not afraid to experiment, often starting with a sketch that becomes more complex as she brings in her colored pencils, markers, or paints.
Park’s hummingbird artwork started as a sketch. Using a lightboard, she filled in the details with Copic brand markers, which come in a variety of colors, styles, and nib shapes. The finished hummingbird sports green wings that look like leaves, bright yellow sunflowers on its breast, a ruby throat of daisies, and calla lilies for its tail feathers.
Last year Park’s art teacher at Callaway High School was Clint Robinson, who also sponsors the Festival’s Student Art Exhibit. At Callaway, Stefany studied photography and took an Advanced Placement class on two-dimensional art. She also enjoys creating art digitally using SAI PaintTool software, and she plans to go to college, possibly to study Pixar animation. She has applied to an art instruction school, where she plans to earn college credit while still in high school. Stefany has lived in LaGrange for seven years, and in addition to art she enjoys swimming, cross country running and other sports.
Each year, the Hummingbird Festival is characterized by a different design, usually submitted by a local artist. Often the artwork contains the image of a local landmark, but there have also been floral designs and abstract designs in past years. The primary requirement is that the design must contain the image of a hummingbird. As in past years, graphic designer Leah Leidner will add the embellishments necessary to turn Stefany’s hummingbird into the final design of the 2015 Hummingbird Festival poster and T-shirt.
T-shirts and posters will be available for sale in downtown Hogansville leading up to the Festival, and at the Festival itself Oct. 17-18. All proceeds from the Festival benefit the Hogansville Charitable Trust, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to renovate and preserve historic and municipal properties in and around the city of Hogansville. The Festival is free and open to the public.
