Twin Cities Jazz Festival

Winners of the 2016 and 2017 Jazz Fest Poster Competition Announced

Saint Paul, Minn., Jan. 13, 2016 — Twin Cities Jazz Festival Executive Director Steve Heckler announced the two winners for the 2016 and 2017 Jazz Fest poster competition today. James Powell was the first of two winners with his digital work “Window to Jazz.” From St. Anthony, Powell’s work will be featured as the 2016 Twin Cities Jazz Festival’s official commemorative poster. The second winner was Greta Sandquist of Saint Paul with her acrylic work “Long Into the Night,” which will be the official poster in 2017. Each winner was awarded $1000.

In hearing about the competition Powell explained, “Since moving to the Twin Cities I have always admired the way that the St. Paul Art Collective brings together artists from all walks of life and love the community they have built. The Jazz Festival poster competition seemed to echo this.”

“I love to see my community work together to support the arts. My studio has been in Lowertown Saint Paul for many years, and I am proud to have this festival in my own backyard,” commented Sandquist. “My vision for the poster was to evoke the vibrancy of being in the heart of the city at night listening to jazz. No other music in the world conveys cool city nights the way jazz does.”

A collaboration between Jazz Fest and St. Paul Art Collective, the competition is designed to feature original artwork from local Minnesota artists for the annual jazz festival. Four judges represented a range of community members and involvement with Jazz Fest, including Tina Persson, a Minnetonka based jazz musician and teacher, Amy Clark, Lowertown artist and teacher, Suzi McArdle, gallery curator and jazz aficionado, and Joe Spencer, Director of Arts and Culture for the Office of Mayor Coleman.

With a total of 36 entries, Vice President Tom Reynen commented, “The St. Paul Art Collective was very pleased by the number and quality of entries that we received. All seem to represent the spirit and intention of the competition, which was to create a work of art that embodied the feeling of jazz and a jazz festival.” The 2016 poster will be available for purchase at the Winter Jazz Festival at The Saint Paul Hotel on Sunday, January 31.



The runners up for the competition included works by Jamie Lee Kirchner, Mat Ollig and Ian Vicknair.

Twin Cities Jazz Festival, established in 1998, is a non-profit organization, with a mission to keep the art form of jazz alive and well in our community. Support for the 2016 Twin Cities Jazz Festival (June 23-25) is provided by AARP, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota, the Knight Foundation through its Knight Arts Challenge, Minnesota State Arts Board Arts Access grant, NEA, and the City of Saint Paul Cultural Star.