You Can Help Wayne Teen Win Hot Topic Halloween Design Contest

WAYNE, NJ— We may still be in the midst of summer, but one 14-year-old Wayne girl has Halloween on her mind.

Kira Tully, a soon-to-be high school freshman and aspiring artist, is hoping her newest creations - both inspired by the spookiest day of the year - have a shot at winning Hot Topic's Scary Good Design Contest.

The competition asks artists to submit original designs in honor of Halloween for a chance at winning a grand prize of $2,000 and the possibility of having their design used on merchandise sold at Hot Topic and BoxLunch.

In addition to being judged by higher ups at Hot Topic, each submission can also be voted upon online to let the company know which designs people would most like to buy and wear.

Voting ends at 11:59 p.m. on Aug. 14 and can be done by visiting fanfactoryart.com/scarygood.

For the contest, Tully submitted two entries - "Skully Gully" and "Foot Loose."

“I am a lover of Halloween, so it wasn’t too hard to come up with the designs,” the teen said. “I knew I wanted to incorporate people in it. Immediately, I thought of a skeleton dancing to a song titled ‘Skully Gully.’ Then, I went on to find more creepy parodies of songs to get my second entry - Foot Loose. It depicts a zombie losing their foot, making its foot loose.”

“I love expressing myself through art. It lets me get the full image of the story I’m going for,” she added.

“I absolutely love the items they sell at Hot Topic, so when I found the Halloween graphic design contest, my name was written all over it,” said Tully, who became interested in art from a young age.

Since fourth grade, Tully has been involved in her school district's gifted and talented art program. She's also taken extra art classes outside of school.

Her mother, Sara Tully, said, "She learned her colors before numbers and the alphabet. She was coloring at 14 months old and she surprised us at 18 months old, drawing a circle and making a face out of it."

"She wants to have a career in art, so for the last few years I have been trying to find some experiences to help her grow so she does not become a starving artist," her mother said.

In the Hot Topic competition, she is up against entrants who are older, and, in some cases, professional artists.

“It’s interesting to see what other artists create. I don’t feel like I’m better than them in any way,” Tully said. “I believe age doesn’t defy you based on your ability.”

The teen added: “I am lucky enough to have an extremely supportive family and community that has confidence in my work.”

Tully's art can be found on instagram.com/babydolloddities.