8th Annual Asian Heritage Street Celebration

Share Your Art With The Community and Win $500!

UPDATE 1/9/12: The poster contest is being extended until Tuesday, Jan. 17, 2012 at 5pm.

The Asian Heritage Street Celebration (AHSC) produced by the AsianWeek Foundation is hosting its annual poster contest in partnership with the Asian American Women Artists Association, Asian Art Museum, Center for Asian American Media, and Kearny Street Workshop.

Organizers are looking for graphic artists to create an exciting and innovative image. The winning artwork will become part of the personality for this year’s event and will be featured in a wide-scale multi-media marketing campaign in both the mainstream and Asian Pacific markets in a combination of posters, postcards, Muni bus ads, BART banners, bus shelters, newspaper ads and in a TV commercial. The winner will also earn a $500 grand prize and be announced on www.asianfairsf.com.

Crane Soars as 2011 AHSC Design!

Two Academy of Arts University students have become the youngest winners of the Asian Heritage Street Celebration‘s poster contest with their chic crane shaped as a seven, in honor of the 7th annual event.

Their collaborative design was one of over 30 global entries for the annual poster contest held in partnership with the Asian Art Museum, Center for Asian American Media, and Kearny Street Workshop.

“It was extremely difficult to select our poster winner this year as there were many talented entries, but this crane creatively shaped as a “7″ stood out for its simple elegance,” said Shelly Kim, Membership and Communications Manager for Center for Asian American Media.

Filipino Virgilio Leynes, Jr. and Vietnamese American Minh Tran, both majoring in Web Design and New Media, win the $500 grand prize and their crane will become part of the personality for this year’s event and will be featured in a marketing campaign in both the mainstream and Asian Pacific markets in a combination of posters, postcards, Muni bus ads, BART banners, bus shelters, newspaper ads and in a TV commercial. Their artwork will debut during the 29th Annual San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival held from now until March 20, in the slide show prior to each film screening.

Virgilio Leynes, Jr.

“This contest is a great opportunity for any aspiring artist to have their work showcased on such a large scale through a major citywide multi-media advertising campaign,” said Jennifer Yin, Marketing and Communications Associate for the Asian Art Museum. ”Keep your eyes out in April when the artwork hits the streets.”

The two friends, Leynes and Tran decided to incorporate a crane into their design, because it is a bird that is prevalent in many Asian cultures – including Chinese, Korean, and Japanese, representing wisdom and peace.

Minh Tran

Born in Quezon City, Philippines, Leynes, 22, has traveled all around the world with his mother due to her job as a United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees field agent. He lived in India for two years and has traveled to Macedonia, Hong Kong, China, Vietnam and Thailand just to name a few. His travels have widened his appreciation for Asian Art and this appreciation shapes his artistic vision today.

Tran, 20, born in Vinh Long, Vietnam, is the founder and Director of Public Relations of AuCo Productions at the Au Co Vietnamese Cultural Center in San Francisco. His works are heavily influence by Asian culture and heritage and mainstream fashion.

“We are both excited to be apart of this wonderful street fair that celebrates the diversity of the Asian American community,” says Tran.

The 7^th Annual Asian Heritage Street Celebration will be held on Saturday May 21, 2011 in front of the Asian Art Museum, leading up to the Little Saigon District. The street fair gathers all communities among Asian Pacific Islanders in the San Francisco Bay Area, and enables cross cultural interaction through sharing of cultures, promoting Asian inspired arts and crafts vendors, creation of innovative programs and entertaining activities for visitors and participants.

A look at previous winning designs.

Trinh Mai's bonsai plant captures the 6th Annual Asian Heritage Street Celebration.

Dave San Pedro's cherry blossom branches form a 5 for the fifth annual Asian Heritage Street Celebration.

Imani Chapman's Koi fish in the shape of a 4 won her the 2008 contest.

2007 winner Graham Haynes used a dragon to creatively capture a 3 for the third annual event.

Al Perez's poster used various illustrations to represent different Asian groups and the various shades of red shapes form the number 2, to highlight and emphasize the second year of the fair.