Although the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix presented by Lear has been canceled this summer due to the COVID-19 pandemic, one of the traditions of the popular annual Motor City summer event will endure in 2020. For the eighth consecutive year, the Grand Prix will select its official event poster from designs created by students at the College for Creative Studies (CCS) in Detroit, Mich. The judging for the 2020 Grand Prix poster competition will be hosted on Wednesday, April 22 when a winning entry will be selected from the final five CCS student designs. The Grand Prix will then produce a limited run of the official 2020 posters and the proceeds from the sale of the posters will be dedicated to COVID-19 relief efforts. Adhering to the existing Stay at Home order in the State of Michigan, Wednesday’s poster competition judging will take place via a Zoom online meeting. The format will allow the judges to see each design and each CCS student finalist will have the opportunity to explain the concept and thought behind their creation and answer questions from the judges. After a short online deliberation by the judges, the winning design will be selected and second- and third-place will also be awarded. The poster designs and competition have been part of this semester’s curriculum in the CCS Digital Illustration class taught by Brian Kotulis. The students submitted their designs before April 6, when the decision was announced to cancel this year’s Grand Prix, originally scheduled for May 29-31 at Belle Isle Park. “The poster competition with the talented students at CCS has become one of our favorite and most important traditions of the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix presented by Lear,” said Grand Prix Chairman Bud Denker. “Even though we aren’t able to host Grand Prix weekend on Belle Isle this year, we felt it was important to carry on this tradition. The students have put in a lot of time and effort on their designs so we want to make sure they get the full experience of the judging process and we see the competition through to the finish line. We’re excited to select the official 2020 Grand Prix poster on Wednesday.” An eight-person judging panel will help select the top three student designs including: Denker, Grand Prix President Michael Montri; General Motors Industrial Design Manager Stuart Cooper; Lear Corporation Senior Marketing Specialist Claudette Kaado; WDIV-TV Channel 4 sports reporter/anchor Jamie Edmonds; Detroit News Editorial Cartoonist and Auto Critic Henry Payne; Detroit Free Press Assistant Sports Editor Ryan Ford and CCS Illustration Department Chair Don Kilpatrick. For the third consecutive year, Grand Prix fans will also have a say in the voting. Fans will be able to vote for their favorite design though social media. All five final designs (attached below) will be shared on the Detroit Grand Prix social media channels today and fan voting results will be included in the final tally, along with judge’s selections. The Grand Prix will provide a small scholarship award to the students who create the top three designs. The winning poster design will be printed and available for purchase online in May through the Grand Prix’s official merchandise partner – Made in Detroit – as well as the event’s official website, DetroitGP.com. All net proceeds from the 2020 poster will be dedicated to the United Way for Southeastern Michigan COVID-19 Community Response Fund, which helps provide relief as a result of the pandemic in numerous ways, including food distribution for students affected by school closures, assistance for health and human service agencies and more. For more information on the fund, visit https://unitedwaysem.org/covid-19-donation-page/. Both Allied Printing Company and Made in Detroit have agreed to donate their services to support the relief effort.
Fans are encouraged to vote online for their favorite poster design on the Grand Prix Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages through 3pm ET on Wednesday, and the winning poster design will be selected and announced on Wednesday evening. ABOUT THE CHEVROLET DETROIT GRAND PRIX PRESENTED BY LEAR The Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix presented by Lear is a 501(c)3 organization and a subsidiary of the Downtown Detroit Partnership. Scheduled for June 4-6, 2021, the event includes the Chevrolet Dual in Detroit featuring the cars of the NTT INDYCAR SERIES, the Chevrolet Sports Car Classic with the exotic sports cars of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, the Trans Am Series presented by Pirelli and the Historic Trans-Am Series. Partners for the 2021 Grand Prix include General Motors and Lear Corporation. For more information, visit www.DetroitGP.com and follow our social media pages at www.facebook.com/detroitgp,www.twitter.com/detroitgp and www.instagram.com/detroitgp. |
