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Aspiring young artist Gracie A., second from right, is surprised as she finds out she will become the first-ever Cox Mobile Phone Case Design Contest Grand Prize winner on Tuesday, March 25, 2025, at The Children’s Museum in downtown in Lafayette. STAFF PHOTO BY BRAD BOWIE Aspiring young artist Gracie A.
, second from right, is greeted before finding out she will become the first-ever Cox Mobile Phone Case Design Contest Grand Prize winner on Tuesday, March 25, 2025, at The Children’s Museum in downtown in Lafayette. STAFF PHOTO BY BRAD BOWIE Aspiring young artist Gracie A. is surprised as she finds out she will become the first-ever Cox Mobile Phone Case Design Contest Grand Prize winner on Tuesday, March 25, 2025, at The Children’s Museum in downtown in Lafayette.
STAFF PHOTO BY BRAD BOWIE Aspiring young artist Gracie A. is surprised with a video message from Mario Lopez as she finds out she will become the first-ever Cox Mobile Phone Case Design Contest Grand Prize winner on Tuesday, March 25, 2025, at The Children’s Museum in downtown in Lafayette. STAFF PHOTO BY BRAD BOWIE Members of the Boy’s and Girl’s Club welcome aspiring young artist Gracie A.
as she finds out she will become the first-ever Cox Mobile Phone Case Design Contest Grand Prize winner on Tuesday, March 25, 2025, at The Children’s Museum in downtown in Lafayette. STAFF PHOTO BY BRAD BOWIE Aspiring young artist Gracie A.’s grandmother, Deborah Olivier, left, and mother, Christina Stovall, watch a video profile on Gracie before she is surprised to find out she will become the first-ever Cox Mobile Phone Case Design Contest Grand Prize winner on Tuesday, March 25, 2025, at The Children’s Museum in downtown in Lafayette.
STAFF PHOTO BY BRAD BOWIE Aspiring young artist Gracie A., right, watches a video about her design before being surprised to find out she will become the first-ever Cox Mobile Phone Case Design Contest Grand Prize winner on Tuesday, March 25, 2025, at The Children’s Museum in downtown in Lafayette. STAFF PHOTO BY BRAD BOWIE Attendees watch a video profiling aspiring young artist Gracie A.
before she finds out she will become the first-ever Cox Mobile Phone Case Design Contest Grand Prize winner on Tuesday, March 25, 2025, at The Children’s Museum in downtown in Lafayette. STAFF PHOTO BY BRAD BOWIE Aspiring young artist Gracie A. is surprised with a video message from Mario Lopez as she finds out she will become the first-ever Cox Mobile Phone Case Design Contest Grand Prize winner on Tuesday, March 25, 2025, at The Children’s Museum in downtown in Lafayette.
STAFF PHOTO BY BRAD BOWIE Facebook Twitter WhatsApp SMS Email Print Copy article link Save When Gracie heard about the Cox Mobile phone case design competition, she didn't think much about it. But one of the staff at the Boys and Girls Club of Acadiana's Vermilion location encouraged her to enter. With the contest's theme of "a world within reach" in mind, the 16-year-old, whose last name is being withheld for privacy reasons, started with a pink, blue and purple background.
She added the Earth in the center and elements of space above it. Hands of various skin tones reach up from the bottom to "show that everyone can be themselves and we can community with everyone." Gracie was surprised and overwhelmed with emotion Tuesday when she was announced as the grand prize winner in front of her fellow Vermilion Club members, family and other representatives.
"I am very shocked," she said after the announcement. "I did not expect this whatsoever." Out of 22 finalists, Gracie's design was chosen by a team of judges including leaders from Cox, phone case company OtterBox and Boys and Girls Clubs alumni Mario Lopez and Mona Dixon.
She received a $25,000 scholarship, which she said she'll use to pursue a career in forensic science, something she's wanted to focus on since she was 8 years old. Her club also received a $25,000 Cox Innovation Lab grant to bring cutting-edge technology to those children and teens. Gracie's design will be manufactured on OtterBox cases that will be sold online and in Cox stores.
Proceeds from the sales will benefit Boys and Girls Clubs of America. Vermilion Club Director Brittney Griffith said she was feeling "all of the emotions" when Gracie was announced as the winner. Griffith has known Gracie for about six years and said the teen is quiet and strong willed when she sets her mind to something.
"I'm excited for her future," Griffith said. "The world is within her reach and she can go for the stars.".
