Design by Taiwanese artist to be painted on United Airlines plane

Taipei, May 22 (CNA) A design by a Taiwanese-American artist will be painted on a United Airlines Boeing 757 airplane later this year, which is part of her prize for winning a contest sponsored by the American carrier.

Artist Tsungwei Moo (牟宗瑋), who lives in San Francisco, was one of two major winners in the "Her Art Here" contest, UA said in a statement released Friday.

The activity invited female artists legally residing in the United States to submit designs for a chance to have them painted on United Airlines' planes, which will fly more than a million miles a year across the country, the carrier said.

Moo's winning artwork depicts typical aspects of California scenery such as palm trees and the ocean and expresses the "wonders of nature and humanity," UA said.

Moo, who grew up in Taipei and traveled to the U.S. on a UA flight 14 years ago to chase her dreams as an artist, said the creation and appreciation of art should not be defined by gender or cultural differences.

"As an emerging immigrant female artist, winning Her Art Here gives me a great platform to let the world see my art," said Moo, an artist in residence at Yosemite National Park, according to the statement. "It is truly surreal to have won this contest."

The other winner was Corinne Antonelli of New Jersey, who is studying illustration at Ringling College of Art and Design in Sarasota, Florida, UA said.

The winning designs will be painted on two different UA Boeing 757 airplanes this autumn, the airline said.

The "Boeing 757 provides artists with a traveling canvas that flies on average 1.6 million miles a year on 476 cross-country trips," UA said. "The aircraft is roughly 3,666 times larger than the typical 18" x 24" canvas."

The UA contest, which ran from Feb. 26 to March 24, was designed to find and promote underrepresented women artists by giving them an opportunity to showcase their work on a UA aircraft, according to the airline's website.