ELBERTA, Ala. —  Twelve-year-old Hannah Bosarge’s accidental spill of red paint has put her in the running for a trip to New York City and a possible recognition from an International community.

As part of the  annual Lions Club International Peace Poster Competition, Bosarge created a colorful poster she named “Peace is as colorful as a rainbow.”

The idea for the poster didn’t come easily to Bosarge, an Orange Beach resident and St. Benedict’s student,

“I couldn’t really come up with anything,” Bosarge said. “My art teacher showed me some Picasso paintings which I liked, so I copied that a little bit. The rose in the picture only happened because I accidentally spilled red paint on [the painting].”

That happy accident helped Bosarge’s poster win first prize at the multi-district level of the competition. It will now continue on to the International level. Her poster will compete against some 35,000 other entries from around the world.

“Hannah’s poster is very nice,” Lions Club member Linda Ziglar said. “There’s some tough competition, but Hannah has as good a chance as anyone else.”

Bosarge herself never thought she would win from her school, much less go to this level of the competition.

“I figured there had to be better posters out there,” she said. “But then at our Christmas play at school they announced I won, I was surprised. My parents are really proud of me and my friends are really excited, they were all cheering and screaming for me.”

Each year, the competition is given an original theme that incorporates peace. The children are then asked to show the theme through their artwork. This year’s theme was “Peace begins with me.” Each poster is judged on originality, artistic merit and expression of the theme.

Judges are from the art, peace, youth, education and media communities.

The grand prize includes a trip to an award ceremony in New York City. The sponsoring Lion’s Club president and two family members will also attend the ceremony at the United Nations. The winner also receives a cash prize of $2,500. While there is one grand prize winner, 23 merit award or honorable mention winners will each receive a $500 cash prize. The winners are announced on or before Feb. 1.   

If Bosarge wins, she plans to simply walk around the city and “look around.”