The Las Vegas Sphere, which opened back in September 2023 has just announced their new Sphere Design Challenge, the “XO Student Design Challenge.” The challenge is specifically for Las Vegas CCSD and UNLV students, meaning that upwards of 100,000 students could participate. The challenge is to design art that will be shown on the exosphere of the sphere, which is the exterior made up of LED lights. The theme for the challenge this year is Fourth of July. According to the Sphere website, “Clark County School District high schools and 30 from UNLV Colleges of Fine Arts, Architecture, Film, Engineering, and Mathematics – will be selected to participate by school administrators based on students’ demonstrated passion for art and digital design”.
Junior Liliana Arechiga explains, “I think this new sphere design challenge is really cool. I can’t believe how many students could possibly participate. I’m not really interested in art that much myself, but I’m excited to see all of the unique designs in July.”
In total, eight winners’ artwork will be chosen, four winners from the general public voting, and four winners chosen by professional Sphere artists. Michela Picchi, an Interdisciplinary Artist who created a design for the sphere at the beginning of this month will be one of the judges who is a part of selecting a winner. Refik Anadol will also be a part of the judging process. He created a design for the sphere back in 2023 called “Machine Hallucinations.”
Voting will be available to the public at a later date on The Sphere Las Vegas website. High school and college winners will receive a $10,000 scholarship. Elementary and middle winners will receive a $10,000 donation to their school’s art program and a trip for the entire school to attend The Sphere Experience. Winners artwork will be shown on the exosphere on the Fourth of July this upcoming summer as the theme predicts.
Junior Maya Garay says, “I can’t wait to see all of the cool designs on the sphere. I think the elementary school designs will definitely be the most interesting since they’re younger. It’s always so cute seeing how they just pour their ideas into artwork and projects. I think this challenge is really cool and the rewards are so beneficial.”
According to Live Design, elementary and middle school students participating in the new XO Student Design Challenge will “be provided with a 2D drawing of Sphere that they will be able to illustrate or paint.” Older students in high school/college, will be provided with tools, a VR headset, and an app, and tutorials to help them create their artwork. More information can be found on the Sphere’s Instagram (@spherevegas) or on their website.
