Two Filipino scholars from the in the International Leaders in Education Program at Kent State won Best Overall in the International Female Artist Poster Contest. Their poster depicted Lea Salonga-Chien, a Tony award-winning actress behind the singing voice of Jasmine from Walt Disney’s “Aladdin.”

Throughout the week, students and faculty voted for their favorite poster hanging in White Hall.

The poster contest was part of the International Women’s Day celebration on Tuesday. The winners were chosen on Thursday and received a T-shirt and certificate from the Gerald H. Read Center.

International scholars were asked to design a poster about a woman from their native country who uses some form of art to spread a global message.

Hermes Vargas and Christine Arjona, the winners of Best Overall, said they chose Salonga-Chien because she’s internationally well known.

Arjona said Salonga-Chien is a role model to the Filipino youth since she is humble and focused on her culture.

Two other posters of famous, influential women won runner-up awards.

Indonesian teachers Betty Rahmawati and Novianti Mulyana won “most informative” for their poster on Ni Ketut Reneng, a Bali dancer, now deceased, who Rahmawati said, “gave all her life for dance.”

Even in her older years, Reneng still danced beautifully, Rahmawati said. She would wear a mask while dancing, and the audience would be shocked that the spry dancer was actually an elderly woman when she took it off at the end.

Reneng inspired many women in Bali, and now people teach her style of dancing throughout Indonesia.

The final award was Most Attractive Poster. Two scholars from Ecuador designed a colorful display devoted to Alicia Yanez Cossio, a deceased author who wrote everything from poetry to romance novels.

“It’s really interesting to have a woman in my country to write in this way,” Magaly Diaz, a designer of the poster, said.

The wide range of Cossio’s writing is unusual for a woman in her country to do, Diaz said.

“Also, it’s a role model for young generations,” Diaz said.

Contact Kelsey Misbrener at [email protected].