THUNDER BAY — Inspired by a Brazilian artist and her love of colourful clothing, a student from Dryden has made the finals of an international competition by making a graduation dress using duct tape. Now Monica Walsh is hoping area residents will support her by voting for her creation in the Duck Tape Stuck at Prom Scholarship Contest. Duck tape is a brand manufactured by North Carolina-based Shurtape Technologies.
Walsh, who's 18, just graduated from high school and will attend Lakehead University this fall. A lot of her post-secondary education expenses will be covered if she wins the competition, because the prize is a $15,000 scholarship. She is one of just five people — and the only Canadian — selected for the finals.
"Duck tape has lots of fun colours, and I really wanted to embrace that in my dress. It was inspired by Romero Britto, an artist in Brazil who makes fun pop art," Walsh said Tuesday from Loon Lake, where she spends her summers with family. Her vibrantly-coloured entry was constructed from 13 rolls of Duck tape, and took about 126 hours to complete.
She said it was her mom who convinced her to enter the competition after she learned about it in May. "I saw it online, but I thought I didn't have enough time because it was too late in the school year. A couple of days later, my mom came into my room and said I should enter because I'm a pretty creative person .
. . so I started working on it non-stop.
" Reflecting on her creative journey, Walsh recalled .
