Riviera Creek Unveils Holiday Creator Series Tins

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – Riviera Creek LLC, a marijuana cultivator and processor here, on Wednesday unveiled the winners of its 2024 Holiday Creator Series with nods to two Ohio-based artists. 

“We went out searching for artists throughout the country,” said Brian Kessler, chairman of Riviera Creek. “We wound up getting 100 submissions.” 

The search took approximately six months.

Wednesday’s event was held at Casa di Canzonetta on the ground floor of downtown’s Stambaugh Building.  

The artists were asked to submit designs for Riviera Creek’s tin packaging for its Stambaugh GC product, Kessler said. This year, the company selected two winners. Cory Wright of Warren won first prize, and Elisha Watts of Columbus earned the runner-up award.

Riviera Creek is using two of Wright’s designs – one a mostly gray toned rendering of an eagle and lion, and another with a more colorful floral pattern. His renderings will appear on a total of 3,000 packages, 1,500 for each piece of work. 

Watts’ design features a mulitcolored, swirling image evoking a deep space experience. Her work is printed on 1,000 tins.

Each tin is hand-signed by the artist.

“They’ve been in the market for two weeks and they’re almost all sold out,” Kessler said. The promotional concept elicited more than 3 million followers on social media.

“What’s great about it is that these are young kids trying to get their career started, trying to get people to know them,” Kessler said. “All of a sudden they’re getting exposure, and I’m so glad that we’re able to support a community that needs that.”

Wright, a tattoo artist who works at a studio in Niles, said he noticed Riviera Creek’s call for artists and decided to create and post his work. “Tatoo is my main medium, but I paint; I work with color pencils; I do sketch art – all types of art like that,” he said.

He said the competition presented an opportunity to get his name out, noting he’s also an advocate for medical marijuana. 

Kessler said although Ohio approved recreational use for cannabis – nonmedical marijuana sales began in August – the industry is still working through regulatory language and approval to sell certain products to consumers. “We’re still in a quasi-open environment,” he said. 

Riviera Creek first launched its limited edition tin packages in 2021, which are released during the holiday season. Last year, Cleveland artist Bob Peck was selected to design the company’s tins.  

Pictured at top: Cory Wright and Brian Kessler.

Copyright 2024 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.