When the total solar eclipse passes through Arkansas on Monday, April 8, tens of thousands of Arkansans will be viewing the rare phenomenon with eclipse glasses designed by University of the Ozarks alumna Odalis Garcia.
Garcia, a 2023 business administration major from Clarksville, was one of two winners of a state-wide contest last summer that was sponsored by the Arkansas Space Grant Consortium (ASGC) to design the viewing glasses. Garcia’s design is on 250,000 viewing glasses that the consortium distributed to schools and universities throughout the state.
Garcia, who currently serves as director of marketing and communications for the Russellville Area Chamber of Commerce, said she heard about the ASGC graphic design competition from a friend during her junior year. The competition was open to all college students in the state.
“My friend knew I was working as a part-time graphic designer at the time and encouraged me to enter,” Garcia said. “I remember getting excited about the idea of possibly winning the contest, but because I only had a year of experience in graphic design, I continued to doubt myself. I would create a design then delete it thinking it was not good enough to submit. I knew I was going up against plenty of college students in Arkansas, and the thought of that was a little overwhelming. Then one day I told my sister, Daicza Garcia (2020 Ozarks alumna), about the competition and she told me, ‘You should just submit one. You will never know unless you try. What if you do win?’ She motivated me, and I really began to put thought into it. I honestly do not think I would have even entered if it wasn’t for her.”
Garcia said her plan was to not get too complicated with her design.
“I wanted to create something original but simple,” she said. “I started off by using the logo colors of ASGC and went on to create a minimal graphic design using a small color palette. I am also a photographer, so my initial thought was ‘people are going to take tons of pictures looking up at the eclipse.’ That is when I added in the astronaut and the text on the sides of the glasses, but I always kept in mind that less is more — keeping it simple.”
Laura Holland, assistant director of the Arkansas Space Grant Consortium, which is funded by NASA, said the design contest received 16 entrants, with Garcia and Faith Wray of Henderson State University chosen as co-winners by the selection committee. Garcia’s and Wray’s designs were each used on a half of the 500,000 glasses that were distributed by the consortium and the Arkansas STEM Coalition.
“The committee really liked the great color combinations of Odalis’ design and they thought the astronaut on the side of the glasses would appeal to younger kids,” Holland said.
Garcia learned that her design was one of the two winning entrants in June while she was in Barcelona, Spain, on a study-abroad trip.
“I saw the email from Laura Holland and I remember sitting in the apartment living room not knowing what to do because everyone I knew back home was asleep because of the time change,” she said. “But I still sent a text to my family and celebrated with my roommates.”
Garcia said winning the contest made her realize the importance of supportive friends and family.
“This contest was not only rewarding, but it definitely made me realize that being surrounded by people who support you and believe in you is just as important as believing in yourself,” she said. “I could have never done this without my supportive friends from Ozarks and my family.”
Garcia secured her position with the Russellville Chamber a week before graduating from Ozarks. In her job, she manages the Chamber’s website and social media platforms, creates and distributes the Chamber’s weekly email, and creates visual content and marketing campaigns that engage local members. She also serves as the liaison to the Downtown Russellville Streetscape Project Committee and is participating in the Russellville Regional Leadership Class 38.
When the eclipse occurs on April 8, Garcia said she will take a bit of pride in seeing her design take center stage.
“It feels very rewarding,” she said. “As a self-taught graphic designer, this has been one of my biggest accomplishments yet.”
Topics: Business Administration, Marketing