This year’s Black Swamp Arts Festival poster is different from past years.

First, it is a collage of pictures depecting the fest and downtown. It also has twin salamanders representing a gate to the festival.

“I was thrilled to be asked to do it,” said artist Becky Laabs. “It was a tall order, there were so many good ones in the past.”

Laabs is a Bowling Green native who owns and operates art-a-site! Gallery & Studio in the city. A 1968 Bowing Green High School graduate, she taught in the school system for 35 years.

She opened the gallery shortly after retiring in 2008.

“As a townie and longtime fan of the festival, when asked to design this year’s poster, I immediately envisioned all the imagery that comes to mind when I hear the words: Black Swamp Arts Festival,” said Laabs in an artist statement. “I wanted to not only represent the art and music but highlight some of the little things that make our festival unique.

“The little girl with her paper hat, the sidewalk chalk drawing, a dog drinking water provided by downtown merchants are all things festival goers remember and look forward to seeing every year,” she said.

The poster also includes a kettle corn sign, artists’ tents and musicians on the Main Stage against a backdrop of the city skyline.

It is her hope that the montage of images will remind visitors of the essence of Bowling Green and the Black Swamp Arts Festival but also encourage then to come back every year.

Laabs said she knew she wanted the logo as the focal point, and with very little experience with digital imaging, she started working “old-school” by drawing sketches.

“In addition to the art and music portion, I wanted to highlight downtown Bowling Green as well,” she said.

Coming up with the idea took the longest, Laabs said, and she worked on it on and off for two months.

The twin salamanders are holding hands to symbolize the connection and cooperation of “town and gown” volunteers, and the help received from both entities to make the festival happen, Laabs said.

“The festival relies on hundreds and hundreds of volunteers each year to make it happen,” she said.

(Volunteers are still needed for this year’s festival, and information about volunteering can be found at www.blackswampfest.org/support.)

The border depicts various musical instruments and tools of an artist.

Her final work was done in watercolor because that is the medium she is most familiar with, she said.

She was in elementary school when her parents heard from a teacher that she would benefit from exposure to art. They signed her up at the former Berlin Art Center in town.

BGHS art teacher Gary Evans nurtured her interest.

“It was just something I wanted to continue to pursue,” she said.

When she graduated, jobs for women were limited to secretary, nurse, housewife or teacher, she said.

She thought teaching might be a good way to make a living.

After attending college at the University of Colorado for two years, she learned the leading instructor in her field of interest was teaching at Bowling Green State University. She transferrd and graduated as a Falcon in 1972. She earned her graduate degree in art education at the University of Toledo.

“If I had retired and not had something to jump right into, I would have missed teaching,” she said. “Now I have the opportunity to teach an age group I never did before.”

While teaching in Bowling Green City Schools, the youngest classroom she had was fourth grade with the oldest in high school.

Now, she offers private lessons for children with autism and other abilities, homeschooled children, and groups of parents. She offers 90-minute Bob Ross-type classes, summer camps and classes of teacher work days and holidays when children have the day off.

All work for the BSAF, including the poster art and graphic design, is on a strictly volunteer basis.