Lake County, OH – Laketran is proud to announce the winners of their 2024 Design a Bus Wrap art contest. Hailey Ambrus, a junior at Mentor High School, won first prize for her design entry themed, “50 years of a greener, greater community.”

As the top winner, Ambrus’s design will be displayed on one of Laketran’s Dial-a-Ride buses for one year.

“When I was thinking of ideas for the Laketran contest, I thought about all of the well-known buildings that are in Lake County like the Garfield House, Fairport Lighthouse, and the Lakeland clock tower,” Ambrus explains of her design. “I was also thinking about the 50th anniversary and how Laketran has created a greener community for us so I incorporated the saying ‘50 years of a greener, greater community.’ Lastly, I created a gradient that looks like a sunny blue sky to remind me of the sunny summer days in Lake County.”

The contest was open to middle school and high school students from Lake County. Students were encouraged to design a bus wrap showcasing Laketran’s 50th anniversary and could include iconic images of Lake County and/or promote public transportation.

Laketran CEO Ben Capelle stated, “Encouraging local students to think about public transportation and being able to combine that with public art is a unique and fun opportunity that we love to offer Lake County students every year. We were very impressed with the creativity of the entries – we have some extremely talented student artists in Lake County.”

A panel consisting of transit employees, graphic art professionals, and community leaders served as judges for the contest.

Avery Dennison, a Lake County-based manufacturer and distributor of pressure-sensitive adhesive materials, sponsored the contest and donated the vinyl material used to wrap the vehicle.

“Avery Dennison is a proud sponsor of this program, for the fourth year, and what a terrific milestone. We are grateful for the opportunity to support Laketran, our area students and the Lake County community,” said Amanda Stefanik, senior marketing communications specialist, Avery Dennison Graphics Solutions.

“Each year our Avery Dennison team enjoys being involved with an initiative that inspires the imagination and creativity of our local students. This program also gives students exposure to the graphics and transportation industries that call Lake County home. We appreciate the opportunity to connect with our local area leaders and schools to drive awareness of vinyl graphics among art students, arts programs and art instructors. As Hailey Ambrus, a junior at Mentor High School, illustrates with this year’s winning wrapped bus design, graphic vinyl film can be a powerful, creative canvas that is visually engaging and beautiful,” Stefanik said.

Contest winners include:

• 1st Place – Hailey Ambrus, Mentor High School
• 2nd Place – Evan Bordelon, Mentor High School
• 3rd Place – Jazett Garay, Heritage Middle School

Winning designs can be viewed online at https://laketran.com/laketran-announces-2024-art-contest-winners/.

Laketran has the top 20 entries on display at Laketran’s Frank J. Polivka Transit Center at Lakeland Community College.