Sphere Entertainment has announced that public voting is now open in the Sphere XO Student Design Challenge, which allows the general public to decide what appears on the world’s largest LED structure, the Exosphere, in Las Vegas. It is the first time members of the general public have created art for the exterior of the venue, which, as part of the challenge, is inspired by the 4th of July.
The challenge is a collaboration between Sphere, the Clark County School District (CCSD) and University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV). People worldwide can vote now through Wednesday, June 5, at 11:59pm Pacific Time, via thesphere.com/xo-student-design-challenge. Winning students’ artwork will debut on the Exosphere on July 4, 2024.
More than 100,000 Clark County-based students were invited to create art themed around the 4th of July for the Exosphere. Members of the public can now view submissions from the more than 100 finalists – from elementary school, middle school, high school, and college – and vote for one entry from each of the four student groups.
Four winners – one from each student group – will be chosen by public voting, and four winners – one from each student group – will be selected by professional artists who have previously designed for the Exosphere, including Refik Anadol and Michela Picchi.
“The talent and creativity of all of the local students who participated in the Sphere XO Student Design Challenge is remarkable,” said Jennifer Koester, president, Sphere business operations, Sphere Entertainment. “This challenge brings together artistic expression and technology in a way that uniquely captures how the Exosphere has become an engaging platform for public art, and we’re pleased the public will now play a significant role in choosing the art appearing on Sphere on July 4th.”
In addition to seeing their work displayed on the Exosphere, winning high school and UNLV students will receive a $10,000 educational scholarship from Sphere, while winning elementary and middle school students will earn a $10,000 donation from Sphere for their school’s art programme, to further art education in public schools along with tickets for their entire school to attend The Sphere Experience this Fall.
Since the Exosphere was first illuminated on July 4, 2023, it has captured worldwide attention for its impactful visuals. The largest LED screen on Earth at 580,000 sq ft, the Exosphere consists of approximately 1.2 million LED pucks, spaced eight inches apart. Each puck contains 48 individual LED diodes, with each diode capable of displaying more than 1 billion different colours – creating a vivid landmark on the Las Vegas skyline.
THE SPHERE XO STUDENT DESIGN CHALLENGE PROCESS:
Elementary/middle school:
- All Clark County school district students in grades 4-8 (approximately 125,000 students) were invited to participate
- Students were provided with a 2D drawing of Sphere that they were able to illustrate or paint, and CCSD administrators selected 294 students to represent the district: one student from each of the 233 elementary schools and one from each of the 61 middle schools
- The 60 best submissions – 30 from the 233 elementary school submissions and 30 from the 61 middle school submissions – were chosen by school administrators to be digitised by the Sphere team for the final judging and voting process
- Public voting is now open at thesphere.com/xo-student-design-challenge until Wednesday, June 5 at 11:59pm PT
High School/College:
- Select students from Clark County school district high schools and the UNLV Colleges of Fine Arts, Architecture, Film, Engineering, and Mathematics – were selected to participate by school administrators based on students’ demonstrated passion for art and digital design
- The participating students were provided with a VR headset and custom design tools developed by the Sphere team, including a digital creator app, to aid in the creation of their art
- They also received hands-on tutorials from Sphere designers on how to create art specifically for the Exosphere’s unique LED canvas
- All submissions from the high school and college students who were selected to participate were digitised by the Sphere team for the final judging and voting process
- Public voting is now open at thesphere.com/xo-student-design-challenge until Wednesday, June 5 at 11:59pm PT
