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When artist Jake Gushard explains his thinking behind the sa国际传媒官网网页入口 International Balloon Fiesta鈥檚 2024 poster, he speaks in glowing terms.

鈥淚鈥檝e really enjoyed the night glows at the Balloon Fiesta, and there鈥檚 not many artworks that actually display what the night glow looks like,鈥� he said in a recorded interview with Balloon Fiesta鈥檚 marketing team. 鈥淚 wanted to create something like that where you could see the balloons in the sa国际传媒官网网页入口 sunset with a bunch of stars in the background, and they almost look like stars lighting up the night sky itself.

鈥淪o I wanted to create something that revolved around that.鈥�

Gushard, an sa国际传媒官网网页入口 artist, created this year鈥檚 commemorative poster for the event, and it was released this week. A committee of judges reviewed 73 entries.

鈥淲hen you mention sa国际传媒官网网页入口 to somebody, they may just think mountains, sunset and balloons, so that鈥檚 what I wanted to put into this poster,鈥� Gushard said. 鈥淪o you can see the mountains in the background, a beautiful sunset that goes from a yellowish to a purple into the night sky, which is black, and the balloon is the very centerpiece of this poster. So as soon as you look at it, you鈥檙e going to say, 鈥榊eah, that鈥檚 a Balloon Fiesta poster.鈥�

Gushard鈥檚 artistic skills emerged as a boy.

鈥淛ust making drawings in class just like everybody else as a kid would normally do, but then once I got into computers, I started creating digital art, and it blew up from there,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 would just use Photoshop and create logos for myself and T-shirts, all types of designs, and from there it just spiraled into me entering these competitions and just random opportunities around the state, and here we are today.鈥�

Gushard grew up in sa国际传媒官网网页入口, went to La Cueva High School and recently graduated from Purdue University with a degree in cybersecurity, which meant keeping the tradition of hiding a roadrunner in the poster was right up his alley.

鈥淚 can鈥檛 tell you where it is,鈥� he said. 鈥淵ou鈥檒l have to find it. It鈥檚 not too hard.鈥�

Finding out he had been selected as this year鈥檚 poster artist landed on a special day for Gushard.

鈥淢y dad encouraged me to submit some art, and I actually found out that I won the contest on his birthday, so that was great news for him, and it ended up working out perfectly,鈥� he said.

The serigraph print is available in signed and unsigned versions as well as smaller sizes printed on metal and acrylic at and Balloon Fiesta鈥檚 Gift Shop, 4401 Alameda NE. It also will be available on the field during this year鈥檚 event, which runs from Oct. 5-13 this year.

鈥淚 just hope that everybody enjoys the poster and gets their hands on it,鈥� Gushard said, 鈥渁nd looks at all the details and tries to find the hidden roadrunner.鈥�