In a celebration of artistic excellence and international collaboration, CalArts Graphic Design students Vesper (Yuhuan) Ji (Art MFA 25), Junyu Qian (Art MFA 24), Oscar Thompson (Art BFA 25), and Dariia Zamrii (Art MFA 25) have been announced as winners of the 2024 Cultural Olympiad Poster Competition. Fellow CalArtian Jiating Shi (Art MFA 25) also received an honorable mention.
The city of Paris and the county of Los Angeles, along with their partners, organized the competition as part of the 2024 Paris Cultural Olympiad and the lead-up to the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Los Angeles. The Cultural Olympiad initiative aims to foster a cultural exchange between Paris and Los Angeles, emphasizing the values of the Olympic Games through multidisciplinary artistic and cultural programs.
The poster competition brought together the creativity of students from art schools in Paris and Los Angeles, highlighting themes of cooperation, Olympic spirit, and civic engagement. Four prestigious colleges participated in the contest: EPSAA (École Professionnelle Supérieure d’Arts graphiques de la Ville de Paris) in Paris, and Otis College of Art and Design, CalArts, and ArtCenter, which are all based in LA County.
Participants were tasked with creating a poster that illustrates the Olympic handover between the cities of Paris and Los Angeles. The 24 winning posters are now on view in Paris on the banks of the Saint-Martin canal through Sept. 9 and on the official website: www.paris.fr.
Later this month, LA County Department of Arts and Culture, in partnership with The Music Center, will display the posters on digital screens on Jerry Moss Plaza (adjacent to Gloria Molina Grand Park in downtown LA), and the city of LA will exhibit the posters at the Bridge Gallery in City Hall through Aug. 22.
