Harmon Sophomore’s Design Makes Colorpalooza Shine

Drive around Lewisville and the surrounding areas the past few months, and it would be hard to miss Alexa Udabor’s artwork. 

Since it was officially introduced in January, the Lewisville High School Ben E. Harmon sophomore’s logo for this year’s ColorPalooza outdoor festival has been prominently displayed throughout the region. That’s because the 15-year-old Lewisville resident won the town’s annual contest to include the visual on all advertisements and merchandise. 

The contest is open to all Lewisville students in grades 9-12. Applications are available in the fall and early winter, and the winner is announced at the Town Council meeting in early January.

This year’s ColorPalooza will take place April 26 from 10 am until 5 pm at Wayne Ferguson Plaza in Old Town Lewisville. The festival will promote art, vibrancy, and creativity through a variety of vendors and activities. 

Alexa’s multi-color design features a 1960s retro look and follows her goal to create something that depicted art and vibrancy. Though she always has had a knack for graphic design including being recognized for previous work, she didn’t even know about the contest until friend Sienna Luna told her about it. Following the contest rules that limited her design to 5-6 colors, she submitted her entry in early December and learned she had won just before the holidays. 

“I was just thinking about paint and stuff and being bubbly,” she said. “For inspiration, I looked at some things on Pinterest for ideas on fonts and logos. I knew the type of font I wanted to use.”

In the past Alexa has taken art classes plus theater classes in eighth grade and the first semester this year. She’s also taking graphic design at the Technology, Exploration, and Career Center West. 

While at Hedrick Middle School in 2022, Alexa placed third in the district and first in the Central Cluster (Hedrick, Huffines, Delay, and Durham) in the LISD Design Contest with a costume design for the characters of the Treasure Island novel. Entrants first read the play’s script, then analyzed and researched visual and historical information and utilized text evidence to prepare their designs and concepts. 

She’s also had a drawing displayed at the Grand Theater while at Parkway Elementary School and a sculpture while at Hedrick. 

Alexa is the middle of five children of Gaby and Alex Udabor, who moved to Lewisville from Nigeria more than two decades ago. Both parents are nurse practitioners – Alex in Addison and Gaby in Grapevine. Their children range from age 3 to 22 including Emily, a 20-year-old University of North Texas student whose excellence at fashion and sewing inspired Alexa to get into the arts. Earlier in his life, Alex was known to create pieces using glass. 

Besides her artsy side, Alexa enjoys reading, especially comic books and modern materials. Like any teenager, she also likes to hang out with friends and watch television. She also helps her busy parents in the kitchen including baking cakes and other items. 

“She likes to be humble, but at Thanksgiving this girl did some really nice mac and cheese,” Gaby said. “It was a whole level mac and cheese. She put her mind and body and soul into this thing. She’s very good at baking.” 

In addition to seeing her design all over the place, Alexa earned a $1,000 college scholarship. Now all she must do is select a college and a major to put it to use. 

“She’s struggling with what she wants to do when she grows up,” Gaby said. “I tell her ‘college is coming up fast.’ Is this something she wants to do as a full career or something to do on the side?”