Who Won the High Art Contest in 2023?

The High Art Contest is an annual international creative extravaganza that embraces artistic diversity and spans multi-racial and gender stereotypes. Under the guidance of the Natural Cannabis Company’s CEO, Donna Frank, what began as a crowd-sourced cannabis packaging design competition in 2014 has flourished into a dynamic and inclusive art event symbolic of the connection between art and culture. Each year, thousands of amateur and professional artists from some 140 countries channel their creative energies into themed works in a variety of mediums.

Natural Cannabis Company Art Director Noa Commendador oversees just about every aspect of the High Art Contest. Expressing a palpable enthusiasm for the High Art mission, she happily shared an inside look at the event’s evolution, and how they selected this year’s winner.

“The competition was branded as a packaging design contest for the first couple of years, so the artists submitted their artwork on a template for the boxes on which we were putting the art,” Commendador says. “After two years, we felt we were really limiting artists on the aspect ratio, limiting their creativity. Eventually, we decided, ‘You know what?, this is an art contest, let’s just ask for art; we can put it on the packaging ourselves.’”

Whether it’s the vivid strokes of digital art, the ethereal hues of watercolors or the timeless elegance of oil paintings, the High Art Contest is a vibrant celebration of creativity, cannabis and psychedelics. More than just an artistic showcase, it’s a vivid tapestry that weaves a unique triad: stoners, artists and enthusiasts of both worlds. The contest underscores art’s impact on culture and is a testament to how a simple competition can evolve into a vehicle that incubates unique perspectives and sparks conversations.

The 2023 winner, Cindy Casino, hails from Southern California and specializes in oil and acrylic painting and had participated in the contest for years. The judges recognized her artistic development, as her skills evolved with each entry. Casino’s submission features a human butterfly adorned with hearts and cannabis leaves, hand-painted on canvas. “We realized that her talent had reached new heights and left us utterly astonished,” Commendador says of this year’s winner.

Casino received $15,000 for winning and a $10,000 donation to an international charity (she chose Doctors Without Borders). Additionally, her artwork will be seen on Natural Cannabis Company product packaging, at the High Art gallery in Santa Rosa, CA, as well as in prestigious galleries both in the US and abroad. The top 20 artists shared in a $50,000 prize pool.

“We’ve seen many artists grow over the years, just like Cindy,” Commendador says. “Some of them get jobs and become full-time artists because we’ve given them the confidence to go out and pursue this for themselves—and that feels good.”