Paris Olympics Poster Competition Feature Otis College Students

Poster design by Otis College student Ysabel Morales (’25 Graphic Design).

Otis College students recently participated in a poster competition organized by the Los Angeles County Department of Arts and Culture, in partnership with the City of Paris, centered around the 2024 Paris Cultural Olympiad and the run-up to the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. 

Luke Kim, Lydia Wang, Ysabel Morales, and Sam Voong—all Class of 2025 Graphic Design majors—competed with students from the Ecole Professionnelle Supérieure d’Arts Graphiques de Paris (EPSAA) in Paris, France; ArtCenter College of Design in Pasadena, California; and the  California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) in Valencia, California. Their posters evoke the bond between the two Olympic cities and their shared values around art and culture. The posters currently are on display at the Jardin Villemin–Mahsa Jîna Amini in Paris and on the City of Paris’s website; in Los Angeles, they are being shown on digital screens in the Music Center complex downtown and will be exhibited in City Hall’s Bridge Gallery. 

The competition was designed to bring together students from art schools in Paris and Los Angeles “to showcase creativity, cooperation, Olympic themes, and civic engagement through art and graphic design,” according to a statement, which can be read in full below.

Learn more about the poster competition process and see all 24 Otis entries.

2024 Paris Cultural Olympiad Poster Competition

To celebrate the Paris 2024 Games and prepare for the handover of the Olympic flame to Los Angeles for the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games (Games), the City of Paris and Los Angeles County, through its Department of Arts and Culture, together with their partners, organized a poster competition for the 2024 Paris Cultural Olympiad and the run-up to the 2028 Games in Los Angeles.

The 2024 Cultural Olympiad Poster Competition brings together students from art schools in both Paris and Los Angeles to showcase creativity, cooperation, Olympic themes, and civic engagement through art and graphic design. Students from the Ecole Professionnelle Supérieure d’Arts Graphiques de Paris (EPSAA) in Paris, ArtCenter College of Design, California Institute of the Arts (CalArts), and Otis College of Art and Design created original poster designs with 24 selected to be exhibited in Paris, Los Angeles, and online.

The 2024 Cultural Olympiad Poster Competition is led by the City of Paris Department of International Affairs and the Los Angeles County Department of Arts and Culture, together with the participating art and graphic design schools, and additional collaborating partners City of Los Angeles and Seine-Saint-Denis.

This project is part of a historic collaboration among the City of Paris, City of Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, and Seine-Saint-Denis region. It includes an Olympic Leadership Exchange on the role of arts and culture in the Games; an historic Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for cultural cooperation for the 2024 and 2028 Games; and a series of LA/Paris artistic collaboration projects as part of the 2024 Paris Cultural Olympiad. All promote cultural diplomacy, support the arts, and cultivate learnings for the 2028 Games in Los Angeles.

The 24 winning posters illustrate and celebrate the strong bond between Paris and LA, their cultural richness, and the values that bind them over the Atlantic. The posters are on exhibit now in Paris at the Jardin Villemin–Mahsa Jîna Amini through September 9, 2024 and digitally at the City of Paris’ website.

In Los Angeles, the L.A. County Department of Arts and Culture is partnering with The Music Center to exhibit the posters on digital screens in the Jerry Moss Plaza (adjacent to Gloria Molina Grand Park) and with the City of L.A. to exhibit the posters in City Hall’s Bridge Gallery. Additional events to be announced.

Thank you to the students of EPSAA, ArtCenter, CalArts, and Otis for their talent, contributions, and creativity, and to the members of the jury and our partners for working with us on this project.

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