POULSBO — On a crisp, blue Wednesday afternoon at the West Sound Academy’s quiet, rural campus atop a hill in Poulsbo, Madeline Trower awaited a most unusual delivery.
As the Atlas moving truck backed into a gravel parking space next to the front office, a small crowd drew near. This was, after all, the school’s first life-size fiberglass cow.
Trower, 17, won the opportunity to paint a design on the cow when she became one of 30 national finalists in the Lucerne The Art of Dairy Taste of Moo-sic Art Contest.
“It’s the biggest project I’ll have worked on, ever,” said Trower, who plans to study illustration next year at the Rhode Island School of Design. “Just look at it.”
Granted, the three-dimensional bovine canvas is closer in size to a calf than a full-grown Holstein, painting it amidst an already packed schedule is no small feat for the Poulsbo student. In addition to the seven classes she attends at WSA, Trower is involved in competitive rock climbing and is working on her senior project, developing a plan to solve world hunger using vegetarian and organic foods.
“Just a small project,” jokes her art teacher, Leigh Metteer.
Metteer brought the cow painting contest to the attention of her students last fall.
“She always encourages us to enter contests,” Trower said of her instructor.
Trower and the rest of the class did not require much prodding to get on board. The task was to create a design that combined the themes of dairy and music, and apply that design to a two-dimensional cow on an 8 1/2- by 11-inch piece of paper. Students then sent their paper designs to Lucerne, a dairy company associated with Safeway, and were judged on how well they incorporated artistry and theme.
“It’s such a fun thing,” said Metteer. “It’s kind of commercial, but there’s this great opportunity.”
To make her job easier, Trower made a copy of the small sheet of paper and blew the cow up to twice its original size before setting to work on her painting. When the 30 finalists were announced, out of the thousands of entrants, Trower was among them. Now she must take her two-dimensional design (a guitar player strumming notes shaped like ice cream cones) and apply it to all three dimensions of the cow sculpture before the April 1 deadline.
“If I try hard and put in enough time,” said Trower, “I do have a good shot at winning one of the prizes.”
All 30 finalists receive $250 to buy paint supplies, which Trower purchased at Artists’ Edge in Poulsbo. Trower will also receive no less than a $500 savings bond for being a finalist. And if she wins the grand prize, she and Metteer will be awarded $5,000 each, and the school will receive a $20,000 donation.
“It’s always good to have more art funding for the school,” said Trower.
