46°
NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y. New Rochelles 325th Anniversary Committee has chosen a logo by graphic artist and freelance designer Deborah Haley as the winner of its contest to design a logo for the city's yearlong anniversary celebration.
Coming up with a great logo was really important to us, because the logo sets the spirit for the year, said committee Chair Marianne Sussman, a former City Council member. We wanted something that would convey civic pride and celebration in equal measure.
The new logo was unveiled Friday at the annual Bastille Day celebration at City Hall. As the winning designer Haley received $325. Two runners-up Jesse Sanchez, an art director, graphic designer and president of the New Rochelle Art Association; and Andrew Morejon, a 2009 New Rochelle High School graduate currently studying at Lehman College each received $100. The contest was sponsored by the New Rochelle Council on the Arts, and all three logos are displayed at the council's website.
Banners bearing the winning logo will be put up throughout the city before Thanksgiving. The logo will also appear on all official publications.
This is a day really for us to come into our history, Sussman said during the ceremony.
The anniversary celebrates the arrival of the Huguenots from La Rochelle, France, in 1688 and the immigration and development that have shaped New Rochelles suburban life today.
Fridays ceremony was presented by the Sister City Initiative, which aims to strengthen the 324-year bond of friendship between New Rochelle and La Rochelle.
The anniversary celebrates the arrival of the French Huguenots from La Rochelle in 1688 and the tides of immigration whose cultures have shaped the city, Sussman said.
A jury of professionals in the art field judged the logo contest entries. Judges were Alexi Brock, an artist, educator and member of the Municipal Arts Commission; Katrina Rhein, director of the Castle Gallery at the College of New Rochelle and a member of the New Rochelle Council on the Arts; Sherry Bruck, creative director of the Harquin Creative Group; and Charles Fazzino, an internationally acclaimed 3D pop artist. Fazzino has an art studio in the New Rochelle Museum Editions Studio, the arts council said.
The contest called for designs that combined strong visual appeal with a well thought-out concept, since the logo is meant visually represent 325 years of growth and development.
Entries were judged on the basis of artistic excellence, innovation, creativity and originality, and appropriateness and relevance of style and theme as relates to New Rochelle, the arts council said.
The contest was open to artists and designers age 16 and up. Artists were not required to have any prior published art.
Click here to follow Daily Voice New Rochelle and receive free news updates.
