Sphere XO Student Design Challenge

Sphere is proud to launch “Sphere XO Student Design Challenge” – a first-of-it’s kind partnership with the greater Las Vegas community that will mark the first time select members of the general public will have the opportunity to have their art featured on the Exosphere.

About the Challenge

The inaugural Sphere XO Student Design Challenge is a collaboration between Sphere and the Clark County School District (CCSD) and University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) that will provide more than 100,000 Clark County-based students with an opportunity to create art for the Exosphere, Sphere’s fully programmable LED exterior.   

Eight student winners ranging from elementary school through college will be chosen by a combination of voting by the general public on thesphere.com, and selected by professional artists who have designed for the Exosphere, including Refik Anadol and Michela Picchi.  

The inaugural Challenge will be themed around the 4th of July, with winning students’ artwork debuting on the Exosphere on July 4, 2024, which will also mark the one-year anniversary of the first illumination of the Exosphere.   

As part of Sphere’s commitment to arts education, winning high school and UNLV students will receive a $10,000 educational scholarship from Sphere. Winning elementary and middle school students will earn a $10,000 donation from Sphere for their school’s art program to further art education in public schools, as well as tickets for their entire school to attend The Sphere Experience this Fall.

The Process

Elementary/Middle School:  

• All Clark County School District students in grades 4-8 are invited to participate

•  Students will be provided with a 2D drawing of Sphere that they will be able to illustrate or paint 

• CCSD administrators will select 294 students to represent the District: one student from each of the 233 elementary schools and one from each of the 61 middle schools 

• The 60 best submissions – 30 from the 233 elementary school submissions and 30 from the 61 middle school submissions – will be chosen by school administrators to be digitized by the Sphere team for the final judging and voting process 

• The public voting component will take place after the 60 CCSD-selected works have been digitized

High School/College:  

• 60 students – 30 from Clark County School District high schools and 30 from UNLV Colleges of Fine Arts, Architecture, Film, Engineering, and Mathematics – will be selected to participate by school administrators based on students’ demonstrated passion for art and digital design 

• The 60 participating students will be provided with a VR headset and custom design tools developed by the Sphere team, including a digital creator app, to aid in the creation of their art 

• They will also receive hands-on tutorials from Sphere designers on how to create art specifically for the Exosphere’s unique LED canvas 

• All 60 submissions from the high school and college students will be digitized by the Sphere team for the final judging and voting process 

• The public voting component will take place after the 60 CCSD-selected works have been digitized

Winner Selection

A total of 120 digitized submissions (30 each from elementary school, middle school, high school and UNLV) will be viewable on thesphere.com in late May for public voting.

Additional information about the voting process, including the specific dates, will be announced at a later date.

The selection process to choose the eight total winners who will have their artwork displayed on the Exosphere on July 4, 2024 will be as follows:

• Four winners, one each from elementary, middle, high school and UNLV, will be chosen by the general public, who will have the opportunity to vote at thesphere.com

• Four winners, one each from elementary, middle, high school and UNLV, will be chosen by artists including Anadol and Picchi

Ultimately, two elementary school students, two middle school students, two high school students and two UNLV students will win and see their work displayed on the Exosphere

Public Voting

Continue to check back here for more information about how you can vote for which art gets displayed on the Exosphere!

Competition website