Gulf Shores artist Michael Swiger is defending his now-rejected design for the 2025 National Shrimp Festival poster, saying it’s a case of “art appropriation,” not plagiarism.

The Coastal Alabama Business Chamber, which hosts the festival, pulled Swiger’s winning design Thursday after concerns surfaced over similarities to a poster for the 2024 Hurley Pro surfing event in Hawaii. A new design has been selected and will be announced next week.

“At no point did I intend the new design to be misinterpreted as a copy, nor did I ever try to pass the original art off as my own or hide the origin of the design,” said Swiger in a morning post to his Facebook page. “In fact, when I made the post about winning the contest, I received compliments from other people who recognized the allusion to the Hurley poster.”

Swiger, who beat out 26 other entries in a secret ballot contest in April, said his poster was a hand-painted acrylic work inspired by surf culture, not a digital copy.

“The relationship between my poster and the Hurley poster was completely intentional with numerous altered and added elements to creatively capture the essence of our local Shrimp Fest – art, food, music, beach imagery, etc.,” he said.

Appropriation

Swiger said that the biggest difference between appropriation, which he contends was his work, and plagiarism is a reinterpretation of the original work.

He said that his work utilizes the original work as a reference or starting point and then adds or subtracts what he says are different elements “to create a new piece or message.”

He said plagiarized work “involves no alteration or claiming the originally referenced artwork as your own.”

Swiger posted several examples of posters he considers to be art appropriation on Facebook. One example includes the iconic Starry Night painting by Vincent Van Gogh and a reinterpretation of that image featuring the comic book hero Batman.

“My intentions have always been 100% pure and genuine, and I never intended to wrong anyone, nor did I ever expect the piece to attract any negative attention,” Swiger said.

Withdrawn design

Swiger’s statement on Facebook comes one day after he sent a comment to AL.com acknowledging an agreement he had with the Shrimp Festival Committee to withdraw the design. He said he would rather not put the Coastal Alabama Business Chamber, which hosts the event, or the Shrimp Festival committee “in a difficult position.”

Ryan Moberly, a spokesperson for the Chamber, said Friday that a new design for the 2025 Shrimp Festival has been selected, and they will put out that information sometime next week. The 52nd annual Shrimp Festival will take place Oct. 9-12, at the Gulf Shores Public Beach.

A decision on rescinding Swiger’s poster and moving forward with a new poster was made during a committee meeting on Thursday.

“It has come to the attention of the Shrimp Festival committee that the originally selected poster for 2025 is similar in design to a poster from an event in another state in 2024,” the Chamber’s statement reads. “After speaking with the artist and an in-depth discussion with the Shrimp Fest committee, the decision was made to choose a different submission for this year’s poster. We feel this is in the best interest of everyone involved.”

Swiger’s design was selected from entries submitted by artists from Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, Indiana, New Jersey, New York and Wisconsin.

His design was selected by the majority vote in a secret ballot that was held by the Shrimp Festival committee on April 15.

The artwork serves as the face of the festival’s marketing and merchandise, and Swiger’s poster was listed for sale Saturday on the popular e-commerce site, eBay.

As the winner, Swiger was also expected to receive $1,000 in cash and appear at the event for a poster signing.

Swiger, 31, is the son of Angie Swiger, who is running for mayor on Aug. 26 against incumbent Mayor Robert Craft and businessman Ray Moore. Angie Swiger declined to comment.