A local landscape photographer and illustrator has emerged victorious in Barrie’s annual Christmas card competition.
“After receiving dozens of amazing submissions, I am thrilled to announce that Gerlinde [Hasselman] is the winner of the 2024 mayor’s Christmas card art contest,” said Alex Nuttall during a social media post. “Gerlinde’s beautiful artwork, titled ‘Tree Lighting’ captures the festive spirit of Barrie’s beautiful downtown and Meridian Place at Christmastime.”
The winning post card, which is actually titled “A Barrie Christmas Wonderland,”features a bucolic scene of children playing on a frozen Kempenfelt Bay. Two are shown building a snowman while two more throw snowballs in the air with joyous abandon. Behind them, a fifth child skates while waving at Santa Clause in a horse-drawn sleigh. The background depicts the north Barrie skyline, complete with its most famous structure, Ron Baird’s Sculpture Bird.
“It’s a beautiful Christmas card and it took real talent to put it together and capture that community focus of our city core and the ability to play and enjoy our environment here in Barrie,” Nuttall said in an interview with the Barrie Compass. “I’m very thankful [to Hasselman] and happy to send this out as our official card on behalf of the city this year.”
Born in Germany, Hasselman moved to Alberta when she was 15. She later studied at the University of Calgary and became a chartered public accountant. Nine years ago, she moved to the Barrie area.
Beyond her work as an illustrator, she is also a chartered public accountant and photographer. Not only will her post card serve as the mayor’s official Christmas card throughout this year’s holiday season, she will also receive a $600 prize for her efforts.
“I’m really honoured to be chosen,” Hasselman said during Wednesday’s council meeting. “It’s about all the wonderful things in Barrie you can do in the winter.”
“It was the first time I’d entered the contest and I’m surprised I won.”
This year, the mayor’s office received 26 entries, though just one arrived more than a week away from the deadline. According to the mayor, this left his team feeling a bit nervous. As in past years, the winner was selected by the mayor, though a panel of local art enthusiasts helped draw up a list of finalists for him to consider. Nuttall says this year’s competition was particularly difficult to judge.
“There were some wonderful cards this year — and we’re going to hang on to them just to have them on deck for future years because there’s some real talent.”
