Shining red, sluggish with shoppers, they trumpet “Christmas time” for Kelley Turgeon in a way that only citizens of this city could understand.

Turgeon, winner of the Toronto Star's first-ever emerging artist cover contest, explains the inspiration behind her holiday cityscape.

“There's nothing that reminds me more of Toronto than streetcars,” she says.

“I love them, even though they're slow, and they're a pain to get around when you're in a car, and sometimes you wait forever for one.”

The Star asked artists to submit their compositions for the Christmas Eve edition of the newspaper, with the winner to be featured on the front page and take home $2,500, and the second- and third-place runners-up to take home $1,000 and $500 respectively.

Turgeon, 25, is a project manager who paints purely as a hobby. Friends suggested she paint Nathan Phillips Square, but despite its iconic status, the place didn't hold real holiday memories for her.

A streetcar, trundling resolutely through the snow, did. The impressionistic look of her acrylic painting is meant to evoke a blizzard-swept street.

Turgeon particularly remembers going on field trips downtown in wintertime with her schoolmates.

“We all loved being on the streetcar. It's the funnest thing to do when you're 6,” she says.

Gina Facchini, of the Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art, one of five judges, said she chose the painting not just for its technical prowess but the feelings it evokes.

“The way it's painted, it looks like shimmering lights. For me the holidays, not only Christmas but Hannukah and Diwali — it's all about light.”

The contest's second-place winner, Suzanne Del Rizzo, says she also tried to think beyond Nathan Phillips Square while still tapping into Toronto's heritage.

Del Rizzo chose to sculpt a holiday scene at the Distillery District out of modelling clay because “I really love all the old architecture, and the warmth of the brick.”

Del Rizzo chose to sculpt a holiday scene at the Distillery District out of modelling clay because “I really love all the old architecture, and the warmth of the brick.”

And by choosing a busy city scene, “I could include all the sorts of different people you find in Toronto — all the different ethnicities and ages and things like that,” she says.

Currently a stay-at-home mother of four, Del Rizzo hopes to begin working as a children's book illustrator once her youngest, now 3, moves into full-day schooling.

Kyle Tonkens, third-place winner and a full-time artist, says he tried to include the city's landmarks in a subtle way.

Since every snowflake is unique, he says, “I liked the idea of incorporating the Toronto skyline into the actual snowflake design.”

But more important than the content are the emotions that the holidays conjure up: sharing, generosity, love. “The image is really a vehicle for these emotions,” Tonkens says.

The judges

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Katerina Atanassova

Chief Curator, McMichael Canadian Art Collection

Rudolf Bikkers

Professor, Drawing, Painting, Printmaking, Ontario College of Art and Design University.

Yarek Waszul

Professional, Editorial Illustration

Gina Facchini

Head, Exhibitions and Collections Management, Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art

Charlie Kopun,

Assistant Managing Editor of Design, the Toronto Star

“On an emotional level, the feeling it evoked – I could feel myself standing there waiting for a streetcar in the quiet snow. It has a calmness to it as opposed to the craziness of the holidays. It slows you down and makes you think.” – Gina Facchini

“It is simplistic, which is beautiful, and it’s not your typical Christmas thing that you see all the time.” – Rudolf Bikkers