ISU senior wins holiday design contest

Idaho State University anthropology senior Eilee Fahnestock has won a $1,000 price for her winning holiday card design.

The design will appear on the front of the university’s official 2017 holiday greeting card.

Fahnestock said she had done art growing up and has taken art classes when she could, but had never taken a painting class. Her design used acrylic paint to create an ISU Bengal wearing reindeer antlers pulling a sleigh.

“I think it is a great opportunity and I am really glad I heard about it,” Fahnestock said. “I looked at past winners, which usually featured a Bengal or well-known ISU landmarks. I knew I couldn’t do landmarks with precision, but I thought I could do a Bengal, and just thought about how I could make it ‘Christmas’ and unique.”

The ISU President’s Holiday Greeting Card Contest was created by ISU First Lady Laura Vailas and began in 2006. Prize money and printing costs for the contest are provided by a donor each year.

Submissions were judged on how well they were able to “capture the spirit and beauty of the holiday season while thematically incorporating ISU” as well as other secondary factors decided by the committee after the top designs were determined.