PONCHATOULA, La. (WGNO) – This year marks the second year Ponchatoula native Allison Portier’s poster was selected for the Ponchatoula Strawberry Festival. She first won the contest in 2016.
“I knew after doing that and how wonderful it felt that I wanted to do another one for the 50th [anniversary],” said Allison Portier, the artist of the 2022 Ponchatoula Strawberry Festival poster. “So, all these years, I’ve been kind of thinking, ‘Oh, what can I do? You know, I really want to make it special. I really want to try to hone in on what the celebration for the 50th will be.'”
During Portier’s thought process for the poster, she put herself in the shoes of a festival goer.
“If I was a festival goer, what would I want to see in a poster? How do I envision the 50th looking like as a celebration on paper?” Portier continued, “I kind of just started to think, ‘What is the subject matter? What does this festival mean to me, and what does the history mean to me?'”
The backdrop of the poster is a map of Ponchatoula, and Portier says the strawberry plant drawing was inspired by botanical illustrations that are found in almanacs. She wanted to emphasize each part of the plant from the ripe berries to the flowers.
“After kind of creating some movement with the plant, I said, ‘Okay, 50th anniversary, it’s got to be gold, it’s got to be punchy,’ and I tend to lean towards classic designs,” explained Portier. “So, I kind of created this crest here that just really kind of oomphs up our 50th year celebration here with the dates of when the festival started.”
Portier says she’s glad she can use her talents as a contribution to her hometown.
“It’s a lot of eyes on you, which I’m not cut out for, but it’s worth it to see them truly love what you’ve made for the city, for the festival, and people get so excited over the posters,” said Portier.
Posters can be purchased at the festival at the Kiwanis Club’s booth. Other options include sending an email to ponchykiwanis@gmail.com or, starting next week, purchasing them at Gateway Ford in Ponchatoula or The First Bank in Hammond (main branch).