Big Y Employee Art Goes on Display

Winning pieces from Big Y Foods Inc.’s 75th Anniversary Employee Art Contest are on display at the Lyman & Merrie Wood Museum of Springfield History in Massachusetts through January 2012. The contest asked employees to create art projects symbolizing what Big Y meant to them.

Individuals and groups of employees submitted entries, including drawings, paintings and three-dimensional pieces. Finalists received a $50 Big Y gift card. The winning entries were then submitted for a grand prize of $1,500. The five grand-prize winners were Angel McManus from the Great Barrington, Mass., store; Kari Flowers from Palmer, Mass.; Chi Lysak from the Store Support Center in the grocer’s hometown of Springfield; Tiffany Roy from East Windsor, Conn.; and James Trosan and Michael Ballard from Bethel, Conn.

Among the display pieces are a colorful collage of photographs of the D’Amour family, who founded and still run the company, and the evolution of the grocer’s stores throughout the years, crowned by a model of the Big Y 75th Anniversary collector’s-edition big-rig truck. Another unique piece, “A Pine Through Time,” was crafted from a pine tree trunk.

Lysak’s grand-prize-winning piece is a detailed three dimensional depiction of a home with a miniature dining room and kitchen, complete with Big Y products on the counters and in the pantry.

A total of 106 art contest submissions were displayed at Big Y’s 75th Anniversary Gala for the enjoyment of employees and other attendees. Twelve pieces from the Gala display were chosen for the museum installation.

“This exhibit will showcase Big Y employees and budding artists who want to mark Big Y’s 75th in their own way,” said Guy McLain, director at the Lyman & Merrie Wood Museum of Springfield History.

Family-owned and -operated Big Y, one of the largest independently owned supermarket chains in New England, operates 62 locations in Connecticut and Massachusetts, and has more than 10,000 employees.