It must be quite a thrill to see your artwork on an airplane.
A design created by a 17-year-old high school student from Honolulu won Alaska Airlines’ latest “Paint-the-Plane” contest and on Monday a Boeing 737-800 with Aaron Nee’s “Spirit of the Islands” paint theme touched down at Honolulu International Airport.
Students across the Hawaiian Islands turned in more than 2,700 submissions for the contest and, after a team of judges narrowed down the winners to three finalists, Hawaii residents got to vote for the winner.
In addition to getting his design on the airplane, Nee won a trip for four to any Alaska Airlines destination and a $5,000 scholarship. 12 finalists and honorable mention winners also received prizes and scholarships.
The 2nd place winner, 12th grader Izabela Hamilton, created a design with a male and female hula dancer against a backdrop of ocean waves and mountain cliffs. The design made by the 3rd place winner, 6th grader Sophia Cleek, includes a canoe sailing around the Islands.
