Tulip Time Announces Top 20 Poster Finalists for 2025 Festival
HOLLAND, Mich. – [October 09, 2025], Tulip Time Festival, Inc. announces the Top 20 finalists for the annual First Bloem Festival Artwork Competition. As in the past 15 years, our talented community of artists stepped up to give us wonderful choices for the official 2025 Tulip Time Festival poster.
This year, 93 works were submitted by 54 artists. The Top 20 pieces were selected by juror, Michael Burmeister, owner of Button Gallery in Douglas, MI. The pieces selected for the Top 20, in alphabetical order, are:
- Tricia Baker, “Tip Toes and Tulips,” watercolor & acrylic;
- Cindy Bender, “All the Frills,” watercolor;
- Elizabeth Bombara, “Grand Collective,” oil on canvas;
- Alla Dickson, “The Gift of Presence,” oil;
- Judy Giles, “Coaxing the Tulips to Dance,” oil on canvas;
- Karen Johnson, “Nothing but Tulips,” mixed;
- Mary Ellen Kettelhut, “Windswept,” mixed;
- Kate Moynihan, “Flourishing Tulips,” acrylic;
- Erin Mullis, “Dorothy and the Tin Woodsman,” mixed;
- Erin Mullis, “Sweet Grass and Tulip Fields,” mixed;
- Heather Persch, “Gertrude's Garden,” acrylic and fabric;
- Demi Prince, “Abstract of Tulips,” acrylic on canvas;
- Tammie Radomski, “Klompen Time,” acrylic on canvas;
- Andrea Rich, “Tulip Medley,” oil on canvas;
- Conni Schaftenaar, “Colorful Tulips,” watercolor batik;
- Andrew Snyder, “Blooms on Parade,” watercolor and colored pencil;
- Carolyn Stich, “Beaming Joy,” gouache and ink;
- Alissa Volbeda, “Floral Symphony,” watercolor & ink;
- Alissia Volbeda, “Holland Blauw,” watercolor;
- Emily Wells, “Tulip Tide,” acrylic;
Burmeister holds an MFA from the Maryland Institute College of Art, and a BAA in Fine Arts with a major in Photography and a minor in Art History from Central Michigan University. Burmeister is currently the Owner and Director of Button Gallery in Douglas, MI. Previously as an Adjunct Professor and Exhibition Preparator, Burmeister taught numerous Fine Art courses and worked on highly exclaimed exhibitions in both Pennsylvania and Illinois. His work has been exhibited regionally and nationally at colleges and universities, galleries, and museums. Burmeister resides in Fennville, MI with his wife and two daughters.
The First Bloem Festival Artwork Competition began in 2011 for local West Michigan artists. Residents of Ottawa, Allegan, Kent, Muskegon, and Kalamazoo counties are invited to enter. The theme of the artwork must represent Tulip Time’s mission to celebrate Holland’s tulips, Dutch heritage, and the ever-growing diversity of our community.
Recent winners of the competition include John Cowden, (2024), Kristen Doversberger (2023), and Kate Moynihan (2022).
The official 2025 Tulip Time poster will be selected from these Top 20 and announced in late February of 2025.
Experience Tulip Time at the 96th Festival, May 3 – 11, 2025. Tickets go on sale Tuesday, October 29, 2024
