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Delta heritage banner contest gets new name, expanded focus

The change is intended to inspire more submissions while still having a strong heritage component
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We Are All Connected by grand prize and child/youth category winner Riley Bouchey hangs near the intersection of 72nd Avenue and 120th Street. Bouchey’s banner design can be seen throughout all of Delta. (James Smith photo)

Delta’s heritage banner contest will be getting a name change and broader focus for 2018.

In an effort to increase participation, the competition will be replaced with a community banner contest with three categories: Delta heritage (restricted to artwork that features Delta’s heritage), discover Delta (open to artwork that reflects the best of Delta) and child/youth (open to artwork produce by someone 18 years and younger reflecting the best of Delta).

The goal, according to a staff report endorsed by council on Monday night (Feb. 19), the change is meant to “broaden the appeal of the contest and, therefore, hopefully yield more submissions.”

Since it began in 2014, the heritage banner contest has averaged 15 submissions per year, with the exception of 2015, when the child/youth category had a number of entries from two local schools.

“The problem was, if there was any problem, is that the net wasn’t cast very wide because of the word heritage,” Counc. Heather King, who chairs Delta’s heritage advisory commission, said at the Feb. 19 council meeting. “So we’ve changed it slightly.”

However, the contest will still have a strong heritage component.

“We’re holding onto that quite tightly,” King said. “We do believe that demonstrating the wealth of contributions we make to heritage needs to be celebrated.”

READ MORE: Winners announced for Delta’s 2017 heritage banner design contest

The competition has traditionally chosen three winners, one each from South and North Delta and one youth entry. Each winner receives a banner with their design and has their work displayed at city hall. The overall winner has their heritage-based design displayed on banners throughout Delta’s three communities.

For 2017, the winners were Marlene Graham (representing North Delta), Dorothy Hobbs (representing South Delta), and Riley Bouchey (for the child/youth category). As the grand prize winner, Bouchey’s banner has recently been put up on Delta streets.

Under the new set up, the winning banner design from each category will be displayed throughout Delta, and each successful entrant will receive a $350 honorarium.

The staff report also states that, like its predecessor, the community banner contest will accept entries in a variety visual arts, including photography, digital art, collage, painting, drawing, and printmaking.

Submissions for the 2018 community banner contest will open in April and close June 1. The winning banners will be on display in early 2019.

For more information, visit delta.ca/bannercontest.



grace.kennedy@northdeltareporter.com

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(From left) Our Future, Our Past by Marlene Graham (North Delta category winner); We Are All Connected by Riley Bouchey (grand prize and child/youth category winner); and View of Mount Baker from Centennial Beach by Dorothy Hobbs (South Delta category winner). (Images provided by the City of Delta)