The high school student winners of the Bob Hope Airport “2015 Tower Banner Student Art Contest” from Burbank, Glendale and Pasadena Unified School Districts presented their winning artwork at the March 2 Airport Authority meeting. The winners were chosen from 342 entries across all three districts. Joining them were their art teachers and district art coordinators, along with many of the students’ proud parents.
Burbank School District’s winning banner, created by 12th grader Anyssa Payaslyan of Burbank High School, will be displayed starting April 2016.
This is the eighth year the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority has sponsored the Bob Hope Airport Tower Banner Student Art Contest for students of the respective Unified School Districts in Grades 9 – 12. Each year, the Airport Authority chooses a different aviation theme for the contest. This year’s theme was “Great Moments in Flight.” In 2014, the theme was “Skies of Freedom.” In 2013, the theme was “The Sky’s the Limit,” and in 2012 and 2011, the artists illustrated “Cleared for Take Off,” and “Up and Away.”
Each school district determines which submissions are its top three entries. The arts and culture commission from each respective city then considers the three entries and makes the final award of the first place entry from its school district based on the judging criteria set forth in the Authority’s contest rules.
The winning artwork from each school district is enlarged to a size of 16 feet by 26 feet for display on the Bob Hope Airport terminal tower for a period of approximately three months where it is seen by well over a million travelers and airport visitors as they arrive and depart the airport.
Since the contest’s inception eight years ago, $19,500 has been awarded to each school district in honor of the winning entries, with the stipulation that the award be used to help support and promote the districts’ education programs for the arts. This year, each district will receive another $3,000, bringing the total to $22,500 for each school district.
