'It's been really meaningful': Kasson student designs logo for Rochester Pride
Mar. 7—ROCHESTER — Last month, Rochester Pride released its logo for this year's summer event. The image was quintessential Rochester: the silhouette of three geese floating on a lake, represented with rainbow colors.
It's an image that, no doubt, will be worn by dozens of people as the year creeps closer and closer to summer, culminating in Rochester Pride's event on May 20. The organization reported that more than 400 people voted in the design selection.
The artist behind the winning image is Caelynn Petersilie, a 15-year-old student from Kasson. They started working on the design by hand before transitioning the work to a digital platform.
Petersilie spoke with the Post Bulletin about their design, their art in general, and their thoughts on being selected to represent this year's festivities.
How did you come up with the design?
It really resonated with me to find a way to represent Rochester in a design and then add Pride to it. I thought about that, and then I thought of my experiences in Rochester. And I thought about how Silver Lake is such an iconic place and how almost everybody goes there.
How did you come to submit your artwork in the first place?
Rochester Pride posted about the competition, and my mom found it on Facebook and said, "Oh look, this is so cool. You should do that." I thought about it for like 0.3 seconds and then said "OK, let's do this."
What was your reaction when you found out your design was selected as the winner?
I was amazed. I felt every emotion you could in like 30 seconds. It was completely overwhelming. I was most notably very proud of myself and very grateful that people wanted to see my art and wanted to wear it even.
Do you think this will change your experience with Rochester Pride, knowing you've been part of the process?
Yeah, definitely. Especially since I have a booth and get to have interactions with the actual people of Rochester.
What is it you like about art in general? What drives you as an artist?
When I was younger, I struggled to interact with others. Especially when I was struggling, it was a way I could express myself and share how I was feeling at the moment. Plus, it's something you're never perfect at. There's always something you can do better. And I feel like that's amazing. There's no goal to hit. There's no end stage. It's just getting better and not stopping that process.
Does this recognition challenge you as an artist to try different things?
I haven't really thought about what this means for my art yet. I've thought about what it means for me. It definitely has solidified the idea that if and when I go to college, I want to do something with art. I know that art's always going to be in my life.
So what does this mean for you?
It really means a lot of self confidence. It helps reinforce the feeling that I'm going somewhere and I am doing things — and that even the small act of spending two hours on my phone doing doodles is somehow affecting others. It's been really meaningful.
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