Nostalgic design wins top prize in UHV President’s Holiday Card Contest
For Ellen Grubbs, a sophomore at the University of Houston-Victoria, the holiday season has always been a time of cherishing memories and upholding family traditions.
Taking memories from her childhood, Grubbs has used them as inspiration to win first place in this year’s UHV President’s Holiday Card Contest and secure a $1,000 scholarship for her artwork. Her winning design will also be featured on the front of the university president’s holiday card. Along with Grubbs, Leah Ayala was named honorable mention and will receive a UHV swag bag.
“I am so excited and grateful my work was chosen,” said Grubbs, a business management sophomore from Corsicana. “My inspiration came from the holiday movies I grew up watching with my late father, which hold a special place in my heart. I wanted to create something that would spread joy to others and connect with the nostalgia of the season.”
Her design utilizes a mix of materials, including foam clay and felt. UHV’s mascot jaX is molded with clay and flanked by a neatly wrapped red box, a gingerbread man and a snowman. The entire cast is surrounded by a winter wonderland with a gingerbread house and Christmas tree in the background.
"The submissions we receive never fail to impress me with their imaginative flair and artistic skill," said UHV president Bob Glenn. "This year's entries have been outstanding, and I am filled with pride for each student who shared their work.”
Grubbs’s whimsical design was inspired by popular holiday films produced in the 1960s such as "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" and "Frosty the Snowman,” Grubbs said. The hand-sculpted pieces, created using a mix of materials including foam clay and felt, were created to depict beloved characters like Rudolph, Frosty, and the Gingerbread Man gathered together in a festive setting.
“Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and Frosty the Snowman are two of my favorite holiday movies. I remember watching them with my late father growing up, and I am so grateful that my sisters and I got to share those memories with him,” Grubbs said. “He was a truck driver, Air Force veteran – a family man – and he was overall an all-American man, and he believed in holiday tradition and sharing holiday spirit with his friends and loved ones.”
The creation process took approximately a day, as she had to rebuild a portion of the piece after the initial version. Grubbs said she was inspired by Tadahito Mochinaga. Known as one of the world's most influential stop motion artists, Mochinaga was the animation mastermind behind the beloved Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer that captivated generations of viewers. Through his meticulous craftsmanship and innovative techniques, Grubbs said Mochinaga elevated stop motion animation to an art form.
“I just want to thank the President’s Office for choosing my submission,” Grubbs said. “I feel so grateful that my artwork touched so many people, and I can’t wait for it to touch even more.”
The University of Houston-Victoria, located in the heart of the Coastal Bend region since 1973 in Victoria, Texas, offers courses leading to more than 50 academic programs in the schools of Arts & Sciences; Business Administration; and Education, Health Professions & Human Development. UHV provides face-to-face classes at its Victoria campus, as well as an instructional site in Katy, Texas, and online classes that students can take from anywhere. UHV supports the American Association of State Colleges and Universities Opportunities for All initiative to increase awareness about state colleges and universities and the important role they have in providing a high-quality and accessible education to an increasingly diverse student population, as well as contributing to regional and state economic development.