Pharmacy student Gower paints winning ISU holiday greeting card

A painting of a wintry scene that depicts three students and a faculty member sledding down Red Hill with the hill’s pillars in the background is the winning entry in Idaho State University’s third annual Holiday Greeting Card Contest.

The winning artist, Jeff Gower, has won a $1,000 prize for his painting that will appear on the front of ISU’s official holiday card.

“Instead of just letting the students have all the fun, I threw in a professor on the back of the toboggan,” Gower said. “This was in part to express the fun-loving nature I’ve seen in many of the professors here and their involvement with students.”

Gower, a native of Pocatello, is in his first year in the ISU pharmacy program and won second place in last year’s contest. Drawing and painting is a hobby for him. He is not a trained artist.

“I personally really enjoy sledding and other winter sports and thought that students racing down a hillside on a toboggan would make for a charming picture,” Gower said.

Freshman art student Andrew Berg was the contest’s second-place finisher, winning $500. His painting depicted a quiet, snowy scene with the Pond Student Union Building in the background.

The contest is open to full- and part-time students. It is judged by a five person committee, which is comprised of Laura Vailas, Ph.D., wife of ISU President Arthur Vailas; Bill Kobus, ISU alumni relations director; Libby Howe, senior university relations coordinator; Julie Hillebrant, photographer with ISU photographic services; and Matt Spencer, Associated Students of ISU president.

Submissions were judged on how well they were able to “capture the spirit and beauty of the holiday season while thematically incorporating the University.” The Holiday Card Contest was created in 2006 as an opportunity to highlight the talents of ISU students.