In this episode of Storylines, hosts Brittany and Peter paint a clear picture of the Valley Metro contest that empowers young artists. First, Community Relations Coordinator Dolores Nolan shares how the Design a Transit Wrap contest began 23 years ago. Then, the first and latest winners of the contest give tips to future participants.

Have you ever wondered what goes on behind the scenes of your daily commute or how transportation impacts the community you call home? Maybe you wanna explore outside your community and don't know where to start. Well, you are in luck because this is where you hop on. I'm Brittany Hoffman and I work in Communications for Valley Metro.

In this podcast, we'll discover all the ways that public transit enhances lives across the Valley. Welcome to Storylines.

Welcome back to another episode of Storylines. I'm so excited. My co-host today is Peter. He's back in front of the mic for this episode of the podcast.

Glad to be back.

Peter, this time we are talking about a contest that we've had running here at Valley Metro for quite a long time. It's the Design a Transit Wrap contest.

That's right, Brittany, the Design a Transit Wrap contest has been around longer than even light rail. It used to be known as the Design a Bus Wrap contest.

That's right Peter. It's been around for a long time. We've had tons of winners and we're excited because on this episode, we're gonna tell everybody how the contest started and even hear from some of the winners.

Let's talk to the person who was there when it all began and is still running the Design a Transit Wrap contest to this day.

My name is Dolores Nolan and I'm a Community Relations Coordinator for Valley Metro.

Thanks for being on the podcast today Dolores. Can you give us an overview of your role at Valley Metro?

Thank you for having me. I am part of Valley Metro's robust community outreach. We go to anywhere in the community and talk about all things Valley Metro, whether it's to talk about the benefits, what's going on in their area or how to use bus and light rail and streetcar. We start very young preschool and go to elementary, high school, post-secondary and senior citizens and everything in between.

Dolores, can you tell us some of the campaigns or projects you work on in this role?

Our outreach takes a lot of different ways. I might talk to homeowners’ groups. I may go to businesses, social service agencies. In fact, just yesterday I did a presentation for Lutheran Social Services for their refugee program.

And we do a lot of that. And then we also have our school area that could be doing classroom presentations. We have field trip programs. Our STEAM program is pretty new where we talk about how Valley Metro uses STEAM every single day. And then we have an art program, a couple of art programs. We have the third-grade art contest, and then our Design a Transit Wrap contest.

And that's what we have you on today. We know your department just unveiled the 23rd winner of the Design a Transit Wrap contest, bus, and all. Could you tell us how that contest began?

Yes. Every time I hear the 23 years, I am just amazed. So initially this contest was called Design a Bus Wrap contest, and it was offered exclusively to the Phoenix Union District for a couple years. And then the next year we added Glendale. And the year after that, Tempe, and now the Design a Transit Wrap contest is offered to any high school student in the Valley.

This year we had 229 entries from 15 different cities ranging from Avondale to Tolleson.

After we get all of these amazing entries, Dolores, how is it narrowed down? How do we get to the top winner?

Our graphic designer goes through and makes sure that everything is technically feasible, and then I assemble a judging panel.

Our judging panel is very diverse. We have educators. This year we had professors from ASU. We have high school teachers, we have district administrators, we have members of the art community. We have artists. We had a gallery owner. We have our colleagues over at Ability 360.

We have architects, lawyers, riders, doctors, business owners, retirees, and then transit people like our Valley Metro employees love to participate, and then our member city, partners also participate.

So, it's very diverse and very fun to put together.

I know that hundreds of students across the Valley have been entering this contest. What are they competing for?

The students get some great prizes. Cash, actually. The first prize, of course, is to get your design on a Valley Metro bus and light rail Everyday thousands of people see the design, whether it's on the bus that's in regular service or the light rail that's in regular service and that, like I said, there's also cash prizes.

First prize gets $750. Second place gets $500, and third place gets $200. So that's kind of a nice little thing too.

Oh yeah. No one can ever say no to cash. I mean

Another one of the highlight of the contest experience is the unveiling of the bus at the winner's school. There, the winner is recognized by fellow students, district officials, city officials, Valley Metro management and sometimes the local media. We do the unveiling at lunchtime so the whole school can come out and watch this happening.

So that's really a lot of fun. Great recognition for the student,

And I know sometimes the students get to hop aboard and then, hop on the driver's seat, right.

Exactly.

What's your favorite moment from the last 23 years of this contest?

Oh, I don't know that there are so many. I think about the very first one, when we unveiled the bus at Camelback High School with Maria Madrid, our first winner. Just seeing the look on her face as the bus came up and she was so gracious. I was so worried cuz we actually had a lot of press there.

I was so worried about her getting, you know, overwhelmed and she probably was, but she was so gracious and calm and answered everybody's questions just so beautifully. Other moments, in days when we could do a lot more in-person outreach, I used to take the student to watch the bus being wrapped, and that was so fun.

Then she came out and she called her mom, and they were both screaming. It was so fun. There are so many, so many wonderful moments.

Dolores. I was gonna say, I remember attending, I think my first in-person unveiling and Celine had her entire family there, including the dogs.

Yes. She had neighbors, she had her extended family and the dogs. It's wonderful to see these kids having so much support from their families, from the school.

So, Dolores, looking back at those 23 years of the contest, all the entries come in different styles and forms. So, I gotta ask for anyone listening who might wanna enter next year. Do you have any tips for possible future entrants?

Kids don't need our tips, but I will say try not to use like the Arizona flag. We get so many of those.

We welcome everything. All we ask of the students is to promote what are the benefits of transit.

I'd also like to mention some of the messages that we've gotten over the years. We require the students to do a tagline along with their artwork, and some have been really timely. some of the messages have, ranged from encouraging ridership, “Ride with us on a Valley Metro bus,” to saving money, “A blast from the past save on gas,” promoting community stewardship “Valley Metro, the pollution solution,” and “Do the ride thing.” Winners have promoted expanded service. One of the taglines was “Bus into the light,” “Bus into the night” and then using transit for fun. “Hop aboard, let's explore.” Another entry ride on Valley Metro actually told the viewer to ride Valley Metro along with the implied message that it's right on to do so.

Peter it's amazing to see all of this artwork flowing through the city streets on a bus and a light rail. I know when I first started at Valley Metro, it was one of the events I first got to go out to the unveiling of a bus driving into that schoolyard. It is really cool to be a part of the ceremony, experience that with the artists, and I'm so glad that this contest has been round for as long as it has.

It's just another way that Valley Metro promotes public art throughout the Valley, both with experienced artists and up and comers, and after the break we'll talk to two Design a Transit Wrap winners, the one who won the very first contest and our latest winner.

Mobile Fare is available in the Valley Metro App. Purchase passes and scan on board buses or at light rail stations every time before you ride. Visit valleymetro.org/mobilefare.

Be prepared to beat the heat, carry a water bottle, and use a hat or umbrella for shade. To find your nearest heat release station or cooling center, call 211 or visit valleymetro.org/heatrelief.

Amazing works of public art can be hard to find, but our arts line map makes it easy. You can use it to preview all the artwork along the light rail line and find out where each of the masterpieces is so you can check them out yourself. Go to valleymetro.org/artmap and get inspired.

Well, we're back and I'm excited, Peter, because we're gonna hear from two of the Design a Transit Wrap winners, the very first one and the most recent.

And let's start off with the 2023 winner a freshman from Pinnacle High School.

I'm llana Belogorodsky and I'm the 23rd winner of the Design a Transit Wrap contest.

What made you want to apply for the Design a Transit Wrap contest?

I will say my family and my art teacher motivated me to do it. I have done a couple other art shows and art contests, but I've never been as motivated to submit my art to something that people would be able to see thousands of times throughout the day and winning. It was mind blowing.

So, walk us through the story of how you found out you were the winner.

I walked into my sixth period classroom and my teacher called me over to her desk and told me that she got an email from the principal and the superintendent, and she played it off like I was in trouble and my heart sunk and I thought I was going to like get kicked out of the school.

I had no idea what I did. And then she goes, “So I received an email, it turns out that you won the contest.” and I asked her what place it was, and she said, first place. And I started jumping. I almost screamed. I scared my entire classroom, but it was the best moment of my entire life because my art is now on a bus and a light rail.

Very exciting that you got to be told in your classroom so all of your fellow students could see your reaction as well. Obviously, you were very excited when you won the Design a Transit Wrap contest, but what was that feeling like when you first saw your art on the bus?

When I first saw my art on the bus, it was almost unbelievable. I felt like I was dreaming because how many times does that happen when you're a 14-year-old artist just thinking to submit your art into a contest, thinking, oh, it'll just be for fun, and then a couple months later you look and your art's on the bus, like a public thing that thousands of people daily will be able to see. And it's your art, it's your name, it's your school, and you did it. You feel like you achieved it.

That must have been mind blowing. But besides just the amazing reveal of the bus, was there any other memorable moments from the ceremony?

I will say that one of the most memorable moments from the ceremony is being able to have my former elementary school art teacher there. Meant a lot to me. Love you, Miss Artemis. But, after I left that elementary school, she went on to pursue her dreams of furthering her learning.

And so, I didn't know that she would be able to make it, but I decided to contact her anyways. And she was right on board. She was right away there, and it was just a great experience to have people who meant the most to me around me while I won this awesome award.

That is really amazing. And I think that's very important is to have that support and community in your life to be there to celebrate those big moments from you. And you're only a freshman, so I'm sure there are many more big moments to come, but how do you see art being a part of your future and maybe your career goals?

Art has always been a big part of me. I've done realism classes since I was nine, and I've done multiple different medias from painting on lampshades to painting on porcelain. It's always been something that I felt like I could put my all into and I could be in the zone and just with myself without needing to rely on other people or criteria or anything.

That would take me away from what I love. And career-wise, I feel like I'm almost nervous to incorporate art into a career cuz it's such a big part of me. I'm afraid. If it becomes a career, then I'll start losing my love for it. But honestly, even with all the things that I've done with art, I still haven't lost the love for it.

So, I'm almost thinking maybe I'll become a graphic designer, maybe I'll just be this big art person. But for now, I'm not really sure.

And that's okay. You're only a freshman. You don't have decide today.

Well, that's it for any of our questions, but if there's anything you'd like to add about your experience about, your time with the Design a Transit Wrap, maybe something to give to any of possible future entrants to the contest.

For future entries. Don't be afraid to expand beyond the regular quotes that people usually do to promote public transit. Just think of what you believe people would actually like to look at and just channel it into your art. And it doesn't even have to be what other people would like. As long as you love it and you believe that you're gonna win, then who knows?

Maybe you're gonna win. And I'm gonna be completely honest. I manifested this contest and the result of this contest as much as I possibly could, that whenever I would see one of these buses around town or parked or at a bus station, I would always be my art's on that bus. My art will be on that bus, that's gonna be my bus, and then one day it happened. So, I will say, just if you believe it, it's gonna happen.

You just heard from the latest Design a Transit Wrap contest winner, and now we're gonna go back in time and hear from the very first winner when it was Design a Bus Wrap contest.

My name is Maria Madrid Reed. I am the first winner of the Valley Metro Design a Wrap Contest.

Now turning back the clock, what made you apply for the first Design a Bus Wrap contest?

It was a class assignment, so it wasn't really something that was put out there as a choice. It was more like my art teacher was Ms. Cofield, who was my high school art teacher. She just made it an assignment, and everybody had to do it. So, I just kind of followed along.

Well, I'm sure that was a happy surprise then to find out you won.

Yes, absolutely. I did not expect it at all I was a sophomore, and I could barely speak English. Thinking back, I, many of the things that, that were said to me, like people that would approach me, congratulated me, I cannot understand honestly, it was a very interesting time.

Thinking back to that time. What was it like? How did they tell you that you were the first winner of this Design a Bus Wrap contest?

So, my teacher, Ms. Cofield, I think she was really excited. She came into one of my other classes. She knocked on the door and she, I'm like, oh, that's weird that she's here. And she asked for me and then I went up to the door and she's like, “You won Maria!” And I'm like, what, what is she talking about? And you won the contest? And like, she has this, bag a certificate and, some other goodies. And I was like, frozen. It didn't quite hit until later. It was amazing. It was really exciting. Like I said, I, I didn't expect it at all.

And I went back to my class and actually, one of my best friends was taking that class with me. And like I, I told her, and her jaw just dropped. And she's like, what? And like everybody was really excited. It was a very special moment.

And I'm sure another special moment was the actual ceremony.

Yes.

How did you feel when you first saw your art on a bus?

It was incredible, because I had no idea that people could take a drawing and then digitize it, create an illustration, and then print it and place it on a bus. And that was my first experience with that. And what was cool is that before the whole unveiling, I was invited to see the installation process.

One of the leaders, Dolores Nolan, she was there, and she was like, you have to see how this is applied. And she was really excited for me and she's like, I want you to see it. I want you to see the process. And it was really sweet.

I got a little peak, but I, I didn't see the whole thing until it was actually the unveiling, you know? And that was really special.

So, the unveiling was at your ceremony. Were there any other special moments from your ceremony.

Oh yes. So many, so many. So I was this kid that, I mean just a random girl before and then afterwards, like everybody, would look at me and say, hi, I saw you in the ceremony. and that was crazy. That was weird cuz I, I'm like, To me, I'm just, me. I'm literal me. And then everybody's looking at me right at this big ceremony because my design is on the bus, and like everybody wants to know, who did it. And, and that was me. So, besides all that intention, another special moment was just, having my family there, my parents, my neighbors even went there, and that was really sweet. And then my friends, they were cheering. They kept cheering. In Spanish they would say, orgullo hispano, which means, Hispanic pride. And so there was a lot of pride in that. Coming from the Hispanic community and all the, interviews I was on and that was something that would come up a lot. And now that I’m in my late thirties and I look back and I'm like, yeah, that was really special.

I mean as a kid, it didn't hit the same way as it does now.

So, you got a nice head start on your art career, with the winning the Design a Transit Wrap contest. Where has your art career gone since then?

The first design was kind of like the seed for me. It really showed me that I could do more things. It was the beginning, to envisioning myself as an artist. So, I went on to become a graphic designer. I got my social's degree, I worked for a newspaper for a while, I worked in the advertising department, creating designs, and then after that I worked for the Phoenix Suns as a graphic designer there as well. and that was really awesome. I got to work on a variety of projects and many exciting projects there. And I loved it. I got to meet a lot of people, and really exposed me to a different side of, advertising and design in general.

And I loved that job. And then I got pregnant, and I was like, this lifestyle won't match the same way that the job that I was doing. I thought I loved it and I felt very connected to it. It just wasn't gonna work the same now with the family. So I decided to focus on my family and, do some freelancing And after that, I started really going back to my roots of drawing, painting, photography, really exploring what I liked.

Now I have this freedom to really explore what I wanna do as an artist.

That was a great opportunity for me to just like step out of my comfort zone. And after that, I knew that I wanted to pursue more murals and paint more walls. So, that's what I've been doing. And painting murals and printing. I've worked for several, so cities across the Valley, for the city of Goodyear, city of Tolleson. I'm working on the third mural for the city of Tolleson right now, for their new Civic Center, which looks pretty awesome by the way. I feel very fortunate that I've taken this path that I've listened to my intuition and to what I wanted to do.

I think the opportunity that Valley Metro gave me and that's giving other students in the Valley, it's so unique. It, it really helps them see themselves, create opportunities for the future. and I could go on and on for that about that, because, to me that came in a very special time.

And without that, I'm, I'm not sure that, that it would be, that it would have that strength in me right now.

Do you have any helpful tips or suggestions or inspiration for those future students who want to apply for this contest?

Do what calls your heart, what you feel connected to. Sometimes, you will hear, especially nowadays with social media, which, it's great in some ways, but sometimes you feel a lot of pressure from the outside into doing what you should. The labels. You should do this; you should do that. Forget about the shoulds. Follow what you feel is right for you. For one, what calls your heart? Two, forget about negativity. If you applied last year and you didn't get chosen, apply again. There's been many times that you're gonna be rejected in the art world, that there's gonna be people that are not gonna like your work. And it takes time to get used to that. At least it took me time. Remember that there's phases to who we are as creatives. And perhaps right now you're in a phase where you're discovering, where you wanna go. And I've been in that place and sometimes I go back to it, even now, in the outside, it might seem like I'm, I'm more solid, but sometimes I go back to that square one and I'm like, okay, where do I wanna go? And that's okay. That's the beauty of art. There's no right or wrong in that.

Peter, it was so nice to hear from both the young and experienced when it comes to the Design a Transit Wrap contest. I think hearing from both of them will give lots of students inspiration as we continue this contest.

I agree. And I think as Maria's interview shows that this contest is a launching pad for possible future artists.

Oh yes. So, if you're a high school student, keep your eye out. Next year, every spring, we launch our Design A Transit Wrap contest. And if you wanna go back and look at past winners, it's very easy. Just head to the Valley Metro website, valleymetro.org/datw or Design a Transit Wrap in the search bar. Super easy to find and you can see all the past winners, which are amazing.

And you know what else is amazing, Brittany? All our past episodes of Storylines, which you can find at valleymetro.org/storylines, or your favorite podcast app. So subscribe now.

I agree, Peter, since I'm on all of them, they're definitely amazing. For this episode of Storylines, I'm Brittany.

I'm Peter.

Thanks for riding with us.

We'll meet you at the next stop.

Storylines is produced by Alex Tsotsos and Dane Ryals. Peter Corkery is the executive producer. I'm Brittany Hoffman. Thanks for listening.