by Chloe Jordan | feature editor

Competing against 300 other people, senior Hailey Hickerson received third place in the Battle of the Flowers Cover Art Contest. Her winnings also included a $250 prize and a $100 grant for school.

“I was really surprised that there were so many people and I placed so high, but I was really proud of myself because I spent a lot of time working on it,” Hickerson said.

Her inspiration came from Texas itself – drawing images of the Alamo, Bluebonnets, the state flag, along with her own band uniforms and other’s dancer uniforms.

“I really liked the idea of doing the band festival art contest, because I really love band, and I thought it would be something that I was really connected to in both art and band,” Hickerson said.

The annual Battle of the Flowers band festival is the longest running band competition nationwide. 

“I learned that if I actually put a lot of dedication into something, I can do way better than I thought I would,” Hickerson said. “I never thought I would place super high, and I never really entered art contests before, so it was really surprising.”

Her preferred style of art is sketching portraits and faces, because she finds it most interesting.

“I’m going to UT Austin, and I’m majoring in Arts and Entertainment Technologies, so that’s design and animation. I’m hoping to go into either video game design or animation,” Hickerson said. “I’m planning to do the UT marching band on the side, and some of the concert ensembles.”