Sarah Neyhart of McCloud says she has often participated in the annual Mt. Shasta July 4th Walk/Run, but this year will be special for the 21 year old graphic artist.
Her design featuring a Golden Buttercup wildflower was selected by Mountain Runners as the winning entry in the annual Walk/Run t-shirt design contest.
“It’s an amazing feeling to have won,” said Neyhart, who graduated as an independent studies student from Mount Shasta High School in 2006. “Being so far from home, it’s going to feel good to come back and see my work as a part of the big celebration.”
Neyhart said her goal was to keep the design as simple as possible. “I used the concept of the Golden Buttercup and created the mountain cutout,” she said.
No stranger to winning awards with her art, Neyhart’s painting of Alaska Surf Scoters took first place and Best of Show in the regional federal duck stamp competition in May 2006.

‘Stranger’ changed her life
After graduating, Neyhart said she knew she wanted to study graphic design, but paying for her education was proving to be an issue. Her father had just passed away, and she wasn’t sure what she was going to do.
“That’s when I got a phone call from someone who was a total stranger to me at that time, Linda Dement. She said she wanted to put me through school,” Neyhart said.
“I knew Sarah as a two or three year-old,” said Dement, a 23 year resident of Siskiyou County who now makes her home in Mount Shasta. “She’s from a good hard-working family, and she is a very determined young lady. She had her school all picked out and knew just what she wanted to do... I believe in education, and was able to help.”
Dement, who owns a property management agency in Southern California, paid for Neyhart’s tuition to the Fashion Institute of Design and Marketing in Los Angeles, as well as her all her housing while she was getting her education. “Linda completely changed my life,” Neyhart said. “I’m so grateful to her.”

Working in the industry
After receiving her degree in graphic design, Neyhart won the DCIM Publisher’s Award for her work on a movie poster for the film “Knocked Up.” The design also earned her a spot as one of three finalists for the Key Art Awards Student Competition, which is “kind of like the Grammys for graphic design,” Neyhart explained.
This experience and exposure helped her snare a position as a junior designer with Crew Creative, a marketing agency in Hollywood, working in the print division creating film posters.
Neyhart recently worked on posters for Hollywood movies including “Sherlock Holmes” starring Robert Downey Jr. and Rachel McAdams, and “The Hangover,” which stars Heather Graham and Bradley Cooper.
“I enjoy working in the graphic design industry,” Neyhart said. “It’s exciting because if one of my posters is picked, it will be all over the place.”
Dement said, “I’m so proud of her. She has the talent to really go somewhere... Over the years I’ve seen great improvement in her designs. It’s been nice to follow her progression.”
Dement previously owned an art gallery in San Diego. She holds an illustrator’s degree and is a volunteer at the Sisson Museum in Mount Shasta, coordinating the annual Quilt Show. She’s also a member of the Lily’s Quilt Guild.
“Education is the key to life,” Dement said. “Getting out into the world is so important... I knew Sarah’s first year in L.A. would be difficult for her, especially coming from a town like McCloud without a stoplight. But she hung in there, and is really thriving.”

Buttercup’s simplicity
“Winning the Mt. Shasta t-shirt design is a big achievement for me” Neyhart said. “I entered once before, but this year I really wanted to do something different... to get away from the mural or painting concept and lean more in the direction of a logo.”
One criteria of the annual contest is that each entry must depict a flower which grows indigenously in Mount Shasta. “I chose the buttercup for it’s simplicity,” Neyhart said.
Mountain Runners representative Kim Jenkins explained that there were 17 entries into the contest this year. “They were all wonderful. Each member of Mountain Runners gets one vote for their favorite design, and it’s always a tough decision,” she said.
“I think many of the [Mountain Runner] members appreciated the clean lines and simple beauty of [Neyhart’s] design,” Jenkins continued. “It’s very different from the others we’ve had in the past.”
“The best part of all this is that I get to give back a little to my hometown,” said Neyhart, whose family still lives in McCloud.
Neyhart’s win earned her $500, six t-shirts, and a sweatshirt, as well as the joy of seeing her creation worn by thousands of event participants this coming July 4th in downtown Mount Shasta.
Second place for this year’s contest went to Jack Kirch of Montague for his entry which depicted Spotted Mountain Bell flowers. Kirch won $250 for his effort.
“We’d like to thank all the entrants, especially all the students in Tami Frisbie’s Weed Elementary School class,” Jenkins said.