Tennesseans for the Arts, the statewide advocacy group that supports the Tennessee Arts Commission, has announced the 10 finalists selected for State Your Plate, the contest to design the next specialty license plate for Tennessee. The public is invited to vote online for their favorite design and make one of them a reality on the road.
The finalists, which include Vanderbilt Assistant Professor of Art Amelia Winger-Bearskin, range in age from 16 to 60 and are a diverse group of art professionals, students and enthusiasts who are from cities and towns across the state. Their works represent various aspects of Tennessee’s artistic character, from music-inspired designs to a painting of the state flower to more abstract compositions.
The finalists are:
- Sarah Byrd, Knoxville – Bearden High School student
- Carla Christina Contreras, Ashland City – Artist, actor, author and entrepreneur
- Leslie Haines, Nashville – Academic director of graphic design and advertising at The Art Institute of Tennessee
- Matthew James Harris, Springfield – Full-time student, Nossi College of Art
- Shumyla Jan, Memphis – Independent graphic designer
- Sallie Mayne, Brentwood – Former executive director of the Nashville Film Festival
- Mary Anna Simon, Spring Hill – Graphic designer
- Lee Swets, Memphis – Design editor at the Memphis Business Journal
- Amelia Winger-Bearskin, Nashville – Assistant professor of art at Vanderbilt University
- Billy Worboys, Jackson – Creative director at Younger Associates
“We are very excited to announce this talented group of finalists and share their license plate designs with our fellow Tennesseans,” said Jonah Rabinowitz, president of Tennesseans for the Arts.
“Tennesseans for the Arts was overwhelmed by the creativity and time each of the participating artists put into his or her design,” he said. “We received many outstanding entries from artists across the state, and we thank all entrants for sharing their talents and supporting the arts in Tennessee.”
Each finalist’s design is posted to www.stateyourplate.org, where all Tennesseans are able to view the entries and cast their vote for which license plate they would like to see representing Tennessee on the road. Voting is currently under way and will remain open until noon (CST) Wednesday, Nov. 23. The winning design will be announced the week of Dec. 7.
The winning license plate will be available for sale to the public with proceeds directly benefitting the arts in Tennessee. Specialty license plates and tags already have a strong tie to the arts, with 40 percent of the sales going to the Tennessee Arts Commission, which then distributes those funds to arts groups across the state. Tennesseans for the Arts will need to pre-sell 500 of the winning specialty license plates to the public in order to send the design to production and establish it as a permanent license plate option for drivers in Tennessee.
All Tennessee residents were invited to submit entries to the State Your Plate contest. The call for entries closed at midnight Oct. 15, at which point a team of volunteer judges from East, Middle and West Tennessee reviewed the qualified submissions and selected 10 designs that best represented the arts in Tennessee and were easy to read from the road.
“The submissions we received for the State Your Plate contest exceeded our expectations and speak volumes to the talent and passion of our state’s arts community,” said Bob Kucher, past president and current project coordinator for Tennesseans for the Arts. “We are eager to unveil the finalists’ designs to the public for voting and further engage our neighbors and residents in the arts.”
Vote for your favorite State Your Plate design.
Read more about the State Your Plate design contest finalists.