Student’s Design to Grace Airliner

January 20, 2009 — Forget painting the town red. For Sitka High School student Hanna Hamberg, it’s painting the plane that has her excited. Hamberg is the grand prizewinner in the Paint The Plane contest, meant to help Alaska celebrate its 50-year anniversary of statehood in 2009. Her design will now be painted on an Alaska Airlines’ Boeing 737-400. Thousands of youth entered the competition, open to Alaska students in grades kindergarten through 12th, while a panel of Alaskans, including former governors and artist Byron Birdsall, judged the entries on “originality, creativity and the ability to express the theme ‘The Spirit of Alaska’ in a positive and creative manner.” To see the runners-up entries from each grade, click here. “Growing up in a small town in Alaska, I've seen how Alaskans work together and help each other,” says Hamberg. “My design was inspired by the way that we all ‘pull together.’” She said she made her first rough sketch on the ferry riding from Juneau to Sitka, of a musher being pulled by several sled dogs. But she realized it wasn’t quite right. “I looked at my sketch and thought about all the amazing things that surround me every day; the wild animals, the people and culture, and I realized that there was something missing. I thought my design would be better if I replaced some of the dogs with symbols of things that make Alaska the special place it is: the ferries, the native people and their culture, the bears and the whales, and of course the head sled dog to lead us to the finish line. I can't wait to see the finished plane land at the Sitka airport!” Besides seeing her artwork on a 737, Hamberg also won a trip for four to Disneyland.

Hanna Hamberg, an 11th grade student at Sitka High School, won a contest with her winning design, which will now be painted on an Alaska Airlines’ Boeing 737 to help Alaska celebrate its 50th anniversary of statehood. Photo credit: PaintThePlane.com Hanna Hamberg’s winning design as it will look on the Alaska Airlines 737. Photo illustration: PaintThePlane.com

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