Detroit GP: CCS student Miriam Wong wins 2022 poster contest

The 2022 Chevrolet Detroit Grand Pix presented by Lear will be the last IndyCar race on Belle Isle, and Miriam Wong’s poster design will commemorate it.

Wong won the annual Detroit GP poster contest Wednesday with a drawing of a family waving the checkered flag over a pair of screaming race cars. 

“The poster tells a great story. It shows emotion, family, and the iconic Belle Isle Fountain,” Detroit GO chairman Bud Denker said. “And that waving checkered flag closes a chapter in our history. The next generation of spectators will be throwing a green flag for our downtown race.”

The annual poster has been a collector's item since the first Formula One Detroit Grand Prix in 1982, and has continued on Belle Isle with the IndyCar calendar. For the 10th year, the winner was selected in a Grand Prix contest from designs created by students at the College for Creative Studies in Detroit.

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A senior at CCS, Wong was joined by her mother and grandmother to celebrate her win. Wong is a first generation American born in Detroit with parents from Mexico and Canada. Her father has worked with General Motors for years, but she has never been to the Belle Isle race. That will change this year thanks to her historic poster.

“In my work, I like to portray inspiring, heartfelt moments,” said the illustration major, who wants to pursue a career creating artwork for publications. “I wanted the poster to focus on the community and family aspects of the event.”

Denker said that Wong’s artwork will be refined over the next few days for publication — and then produced in a limited run of official 2022 posters. They will be available in May for purchase online via the event’s official website, DetroitGP.com.

The Grand Prix will be held June 3-5 a week following the Indy 500 on Memorial Day weekend.

Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or Twitter @HenryEPayne.