We just wrapped up the submission period for The 6^th Annual Tru Vue® Framing Competition, but before we announce this year’s finalists, we thought we would highlight a project from last year’s competition. Below is a closer look at one of last year’s semi-finalist, Tara Wilson, and her entry that honored a hometown hero for a Tru Frameable Moment™.

 

 

The Moment

 

Last summer, Nico Hernandez became the first athlete from Wichita, Kansas, to win an Olympic medal in several decades. The light flyweight boxer’s accomplishment was a source of pride for the city, and his homecoming was met with a fanfare, a parade, an event at Wichita State University, and numerous media articles. Local custom framer, Tara Wilson of Art & Frame, commemorated this event with a framing package consisting of elements inspired by the Olympics.

 

 

She began with three items representing Nico’s win and what it meant to his hometown.  This included a newspaper article on his accomplishment and the dates of celebrations in Wichita, a photo of him holding his newspaper article upon arriving home at the airport, and a replica of an Olympic bronze medal.

 

 

The Design

 

The Olympic colors and the colors of the Wichita ITC flag were incorporated in the selection of materials for this piece. The bronze-like frames that are from the Larson-Juhl Spoleto collection encompass the entire piece as well as the newspaper article. The blue and red mats represent both the Olympics and the flag, providing visual contrast, and the bronze foil matting serves as an inner accent to the cut-outs around the items.

 

 

The photograph and medal are framed with fillets cut in reverse, in a bronze finish to match the medal. Tara chose this because using the same moulding for the smaller pieces as she did for the large would impact the scale. The entire project is glazed with Museum Glass® to achieve optimum clarity for this layered piece.

 

 

Tara’s goal was for simplicity, but there were some challenges in putting this piece together. The replica medal was the same weight and size of the real bronze medal, but she needed to experiment with spray paint colors to get the true bronze tone.

 

 

Community Outreach

 

Encouraged by her father, who started the business in 1995, Tara entered the Tru Vue Framing Competition with this piece as a way to connect with the community.

 

 

“I liked the way the competition theme, Tru Frameable Moments, gave me an opportunity to network and reach out to the community,” said Tara. “Because I focus on business growth, I like being exposed to new marketing ideas and ways I can get attention for our shop.”

 

 

 Tru Frameable Moments is a concept framers can incorporate into their businesses anytime to showcase their framing skills and resonate with the community. Read this post for more information on connecting with your community using a Tru Frameable Moment.