The South Baldwin Chamber of Commerce announced Tara McMeans as the winner of the 20th-annual Gulf Coast Hot Air Balloon Festival poster contest last week.

It would not be shocking if McMeans' name sounds familiar. She is active in the South Baldwin community and nonprofits, owns Design Print Promote and has had her artwork featured on several festival posters. Her work has been chosen to represent the Annual Gulf Coast Hot Air Balloon Festival, which takes over OWA Parks & Resort May 2-4, six times in the last eight years.

When it came to this year's design, McMeans said she wanted to create something special for the 20th anniversary poster. She didn't have to look far for inspiration.

"I was able to incorporate the host city, Foley, and venue, OWA, into the poster art so that their hot air balloons could be featured," she said. "I used a mix of graphic design and photography with sunflowers from my backyard, which happens to be in Gulf Shores."

If you have ever wondered if you could grow sunflowers in sand, the answer is yes.

"We learned that when the seeds fell from our bird feeders into the sand that sunflowers would grow," McMeans said. "So, my husband planted over 1,000 seeds last year, enough to cover an acre in one row and we ended up with so many beautiful blooms."

Not to be outdone, this year he planted 3,000. McMeans is hoping the flowers will bloom in time for the festival so she can share them with guests.

Design Print Promote is a full-service design and print company that also helps businesses with promotions and marketing. Her daily work helps her hone her skills but leaves little room for her creativity to run wild, but the poster contests give her space to flex her creative and artistic muscles.

"I spend a lot of my time creating marketing materials for local businesses that represent their brand. So, when I enter the poster contests it allows me to have more creative freedom in my designs," she said. "I love it when I see my artwork in the community. It makes me feel like I am using my talent in a positive way to make our community better."

McMeans work has graced posters for the Gulf Coast Hot Air Balloon Festival, Annual National Shrimp Festival, Orange Beach Festival of Art, Orange Beach Seafood Festival and Ballyhoo Festival.

When asked if she had any festivals left on her bucket list she said, "If there is someone out there reading this from the Hangout Music Festival, I would absolutely love to collaborate on a design in 2025, hint, hint!"