FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 14, 2023
CONTACT:
Sult Mine Creative Group
(269) 240-7180
ssultsmcg@gmail.com
Niles, MI – Graphic Designer and Illustrator, Steve Sult of Niles (www.sultminecreative.com) won second place in the South Bend The Next 100 Years poster contest sponsored by The History Museum and Studebaker National Museum. The naming of the winning posters was made in a ceremony Monday, Aug. 28, 2023, in the auditorium at the campus shared by the museums in South Bend.
The competition was open to professional and amateur artists creating themed works through a variety of mediums to compete for $28,000.00 in prize money. The contest is sponsored in part by South Bend community leader Doug Hunt who says, “South Bend will always have an open door to Doers and Dreamers. That’s how the City grew then and will grow into the future. There is nothing so powerful as civic pride. And with this poster design contest, we are enlisting art and creativity into the ‘Cause’ of South Bend’s future.”
Steve Sult's entry, “The Future is Bright”, presents a colorful and decorative design.
The Next 100 Years” contest was sparked by the poster that was first presented as the cover of a survey booklet designed in 1922 and since then has been a source of inspiration and civic pride to South Bend residents. The finalists left to right are 2nd place winner Steve Sult, 3rd place winner Bob Green, and the Grand Prize winner, Tyler Foley.
On August 28, 2023, in collaboration with the Studebaker National Museum the winners of South Bend: The Next 100 Years poster contest were awarded.
"During the research to create the competition poster, I discovered the ‘Comprehensive Roadmap a Shared Vision for South Bend 2045’ notes the city and region have a good concentration of institutions to drive South Bend’s ecosystem and link the city to the regional and national economy," Sult explains. "My choice, graphically, highlights this report by calling attention to ‘world class’ Healthcare, Education, Tourism, and a robust Small Business sector."
"I wanted the design to feel timeless, bright, and optimistic. With a feeling of craftsmanship. Like woodcuts. WPA-ish. For this submission, I’m honoring the graphic design of the past while presenting modernity as I look to the future of South Bend, Indiana," Sult said."
About Steve Sult: Sult creates his art in Southwestern Michigan from his studio in Niles, Michigan. Steve opened his doors in 2003 as Sult Mine Creative Group and gained a national and international reputation as a creative director, art director, and illustrating designer, developing new product introductions – successfully contributing to over seventy established and emerging client organizations in diverse industries in the US, South America, China, and Europe. Today, Steve has refined this style created early in his career. His work combines elements of WPA's poster campaigns in the 1930s, pop art, Russian Constructivists art, and decorative art all being applied to poster art. It's like sitting on the fence between graphic design and illustration, blurring the boundary between traditional and commercial art through type and image via prints, notecards, apparel, and posters in public spaces.