PLANO, Texas, March 15, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- The solutions to
our world's current challenges just might reside somewhere in the
space where automotive technology and visual art intersect.
Nine talented young artists certainly believe so – their visions of
cars of the future earned them recognition today as national
winners of the annual Toyota Dream Car Art Contest.
Now World Contest Semi-Finalists, the artwork by these nine
youth advances to represent the United
States in competing against entrants from over 80 countries.
In August 2018, the top 30 World
Winners will win an all-expenses-paid trip to Toyota City,
Japan, and participate in an
awards ceremony, which includes a tour of a Toyota manufacturing
plant. The nine 2018 U.S. Winners were chosen by a national panel
of thirteen judges who viewed artwork by 39 U.S. finalists; the
latter of which had been selected by 1,107 Toyota team members
nationwide from a pool of 103 U.S. semi-finalists. The judges
were:
Cheech Marin,
Actor, Comedian, Director, and Art Collector
Mike
Groff, President and Chief Executive
Officer, Toyota Financial Services Americas Region
Yeongmin Kong, Lead Designer at Toyota's CALTY Design
Research, Inc.
Lynn Beckwith, Host, That Car
Lady and Co-Host, Auto MOJO Radio - CBS Sports 650AM
Bryan Benedict, Design
Manager, Mattel's Hot Wheels
Pete Carey, Group
Vice President of Sales, Marketing and Product, Toyota
Financial Services
Karen
Ideno, Vice President, Product, Marketing, Brand,
Corporate Social Responsibility & Communications, Toyota
Financial Services
Benito Huerta, Artist,
Curator & Writer + Art Professor & Gallery at University of Texas-Arlington
Laura Grundler, Visual Art
Coordinator, Plano Independent School District
Margie Johnson
Reese, Executive Director, Wichita Falls
Alliance for Arts and Culture + Arts Management Professional
Kara Brinley, Vice President
& General Manager, Longo Toyota
of Prosper
Suzy Sloan Jones, Executive
Director, ArtCentre of Plano
Lynette Wallace, Executive
Director, Orange Show Center for Visionary Art & Houston Art
Car Parade
"Since 2013, I've had the privilege of serving as a national
judge for this contest, and I continue to be amazed by the artistic
talent and unique concepts expressed by the young artists who
participate," said comedian and art collector Cheech Marin. "Each year, their artwork themes
reveal how keenly aware they are of the world around them, and
their creative solutions give me hope for our future."
"The fact that eight of our winners this year are girls is great
news for our profession," said Bryan
Benedict, Senior Staff Design with Mattel's Hot Wheels.
"Their design concepts were incredible, and now if we can keep
these girls interested in automotive design as a career option,
we're golden."
"We truly look forward to this contest every year," said
Mike Groff, President & CEO of
Toyota Financial Services. "With so much going on in the world,
there's a great deal for a young mind to process and understand.
So, it's particularly encouraging to see these kids channel their
thought, creativity, and talent into beautiful works of art that
express their visions, hopes, and dreams of a brighter future and a
better world."
The Toyota Dream Car Art Contest is a worldwide contest
presented annually, designed to inspire creativity in youth and
imagine the future of mobility. Winners of the Toyota Dream Car Art
Contest in participating countries worldwide are chosen from three
age categories (under 8 years old; 8-11 years old; and 12-15 years
old), with judging based on three criteria: artistry, uniqueness,
and execution of concept. The first international contest was held
in 2004 by Toyota Motor Corporation in Japan. This is the 7th year of the U.S.
contest presented by Toyota Financial Services.
Here are the nine U.S. winners of this year's
national contest:
U.S. WINNERS - CATEGORY 1 (Under 8
Years of Age)
Gold: Toyota Dream Car Of
Fun by Avni Choudepally, age 7; Morrisville, NC
Silver:
Toyota Homeless Helper by Wesley Lam, age 6; Jackson Heights,
NY
Bronze: Toyota Science
Car by Grace
Sun, age 7; Livingston,
NJ
U.S. WINNERS - CATEGORY 2 (8-11 Years of Age)
Gold: Toyota - Make The World A Better
Place by Lynn Sun,
age 9; Livingston, NJ
Silver: The Rebuilding Car by
Zia Yewon Lee, age 8; Medina, WA
Bronze: Where to Next? by
Nicole X. Zhong, age 11;
Northville, MI
U.S. WINNERS - CATEGORY 3 (12-15 Years of
Age)
Gold: The Dragon Dream Car by
Audrey Tianyu Zhang, age 14;
Levittown, NY
Silver: Race Through Time Car by
Jia Y. Zhu, age 13; San Diego, CA
Bronze: Making A Difference Through
Art by Eden
Quan, age 15; Livingston,
NJ
VIEW or DOWNLOAD ARTWORK IMAGES USING THESE LINKS (more at
www.TFSintheCommunity.com):
FY18 U.S. Winners
(9)
|
FY18
U.S. Finalists (39)
|
FY18
U.S. Semi-Finalists (103)
|
CAPTIONS (all photos should be credited to Ryan Hines)
PHOTO #1: National judges after voting for U.S. winners
of the 12th Toyota Dream Car Art Contest: (l to r: Laura Grundler, Suzy
Jones, Lynette Wallace,
Kara Brinley, Karen Ideno, Bryan
Benedict, Cheech Marin,
Mike Groff, Margie Reese, Benito
Huerta, Yeongmin Kong, Pete
Carey, Lynn Beckwith)
PHOTO #2: Mike Groff
displays his selection for the "President's Choice" award given to
his favorite artwork "Race Through Time Car" by Jia Y. Zhu.
PHOTO #3: Bryan Benedict
was among the judges who chose the U.S. Winners of this year's
Toyota Dream Car Art Contest.
PHOTO #4: Pete Carey and
Mike Groff of Toyota Financial
Services inspect artwork with Cheech
Marin to select the U.S. Winners of the Toyota Dream Car Art
Contest.
For details on the contest, please visit
www.TFSintheCommunity.com.
About Toyota Motor North America
Toyota (NYSE:TM) has
been a part of the cultural fabric in the U.S. and North America for 60 years, and is committed
to advancing sustainable, next-generation mobility through our
Toyota and Lexus brands. During that time, Toyota has created a
tremendous value chain as our teams have contributed to world-class
design, engineering, and assembly of more than 33 million cars and
trucks in North America, where we
operate 14 manufacturing plants (10 in the U.S.) and directly
employ more than 46,000 people (more than 36,000 in the
U.S.). Our 1,800 North American dealerships (nearly 1,500 in
the U.S.) sold more than 2.6 million cars and trucks (2.4 million
in the U.S.) in 2017 – and about 85 percent of all Toyota vehicles
sold over the past 15 years are still on the road today.
Toyota partners with community, civic, academic, and
governmental organizations to address our society's most pressing
mobility challenges. We share company resources and extensive
know-how to support non-profits to help expand their ability to
assist more people move more places. For more information about
Toyota, visit www.toyotanewsroom.com.
CALIFORNIA
U.S. Finalist - Category 1
Dino
Tech
Nathan Lee, age
7
Cypress, CA
U.S. Finalist - Category 1
Nature Bee Explorer
Vehicle
Daniel Chia, age
6
Alhambra, CA
U.S. Finalist - Category 1
Toyota Bring Dreams
for World Kids
Angeline Ruofei
Su, age 8
San Jose, CA
U.S. Finalist - Category 1
Back To Nature
Car
Yuemu Li, age 7
San Gabriel, CA
U.S. Finalist - Category 2
Negative Energy
Purification Car
Xiaochan Zhang, age 10
Irvine, CA
U.S. Finalist - Category 2
The Plant
Car
Heather Choi, age
10
Los Angeles, CA
U.S. Finalist - Category 2
The
Giver
David Ha, age 9
Los Angeles, CA
U.S. Finalist - Category 2
The Path To
Success
Emma Dorla Keas,
age 11
San Jose, CA
U.S. Finalist - Category 2
Plant Purified Oxygen
Vehicle
Kathleen Qinyi Li, age 10
Sunnyvale, CA
U.S. Finalist - Category 2
Draw Your Future
Car
Anika Jingchen Huang, age 11
San Jose, CA
U.S. Finalist - Category 3
Toyota Life
Saver
Kayla H. Jang, age
13
Los Angeles, CA
U.S. Finalist - Category 3
The Fire
Rescuer
Yingshu Zhu, age
13
San Jose, CA
U.S. Finalist - Category
3
Imaginativan
Neha Vinjapuri, age 14
San Ramon, CA
U.S. Finalist - Category 3
Toyota Underwater
Explorer
Ashley Haewon
Chon, age 15
Palos Verdes Estates, CA
SILVER AWARD - Category 3
Race Through Time
Car
Jia Y. Zhu, age
13
San Diego, CA
U.S. Finalist - Category 3
Back to The
Roots
Jillian Alyssa McCombs, age 14
Riverside, CA
CONNECTICUT
U.S. Finalist - Category 1
Solar-Powered Day
Trip Around the World
Bruce Rui Elvin, age 7
New Canaan, CT
HAWAII
U.S. Finalist - Category 1
The
Harmonizer
Elan Kanae Dela
Cruz, age 7
Honolulu, HI
U.S. Finalist - Category 3
Toyota Voyager!
(Let's Go Places)
Laie K.
Akana, age 13
Kapolei, HI
U.S. Finalist - Category 3
Toyota
Helios
Camille Kanani
Quindica, age 13
Kapolei, HI
MICHIGAN
U.S. Finalist - Category 1
Super Snow
Car
Marcus Yi Zheng, age
6
Troy, MI
BRONZE AWARD - Category 2
Where to
Next?
Nicole X. Zhong,
age 11
Northville, MI
U.S. Finalist - Category 2
The Flying Toyota
Car
Iris Sue-er Cao, age
8
Novi, MI
NORTH CAROLINA
GOLD AWARD - Category 1
Toyota Dream Car Of
Fun
Avni Choudepally, age 7
Morrisville, NC
NEW JERSEY
U.S. Finalist - Category 1
Toyota - The Art
Wagon
Anika Kuntal Dave,
age 6
Woodbridge, NJ
BRONZE AWARD - Category 1
Toyota Science
Car
Grace Sun, age 7
Livingston, NJ
U.S. Finalist - Category 1
All-in-One Dream
Car
Jayden Zhang, age
6
Basking Ridge, NJ
GOLD AWARD - Category 2
Toyota - Make The World
A Better Place
Lynn Sun,
age 9
Livingston, NJ
U.S. Finalist - Category 2
Toyota
Biocar
Aaron Yu Pan, age
10
Edison, NJ
BRONZE AWARD - Category 3
Making A Difference
Through Art
Eden Quan,
age 15
Livingston, NJ
NEW YORK
SILVER AWARD - Category 1
Toyota Homeless
Helper
Wesley Lam, age
6
Jackson Heights, NY
U.S. Finalist - Category 3
The Dragon Dream
Car
Audrey Tianyu Zhang, age
14
Levittown, NY
U.S. Finalist - Category 3
Exploring The
Universe
Olivia Octavia Zackey, age 15
Akron, NY
OHIO
U.S. Finalist - Category 2
Planets in
Space
Anya Sawnani, age 10
Cincinnati, OH
PENNSYLVANIA
U.S. Finalist - Category 3
Fly to the
Wilderness
Julian Shu, age 14
Coopersburg, PA
TEXAS
U.S. Finalist - Category 1
Super Veggie-Fruit
Car
Caitlyn T. Wijatno, age 7
Houston, TX
VIRGINIA
U.S. Finalist - Category 2
Magic
Car
Jennifer Choi, age
10
Centreville, VA
WASHINGTON
SILVER AWARD - Category 2
The Rebuilding
Car
Zia Yewon Lee, age
8
Medina, WA
Media Contact: Justin Leach
(469) 486-9065
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SOURCE Toyota Motor North America