OREANDA-NEWS. Toyota Financial Services (TFS) announced today the nine winners of the U.S. segment of the worldwide Toyota Dream Car Art Contest. The U.S. winners will receive a NOOK Tablet™ plus an award certificate. The nine U.S. winners are now eligible to advance as World Contest Semi-Finalists to compete among entrants from 70 countries for a chance to win an all-expenses-paid trip to Toyota City, Japan, to participate in the World Contest awards ceremony and tour a Toyota plant in August 2013.

The nine eligible World Contest Semi-Finalists from the U.S. are: Anthony Forsythe (age 15), Jung Min Lee (age 15), Stephen Curtiss (age 15), Alyssa Duhart (age 12), Kacey Kim (age 10), Sarah Kong (age 10), Lynette Kim (age 9), Leah Choi (age 6), and William Lee (age 6).
 
Judges of the competition, held at Toyota headquarters in Torrance, Calif., included:
Cheech Marin, Actor, Comedian, Director, and Art Collector
Frank Romero, Artist
Olga Garay-English, General Manager, City of Los Angeles Dept. of Cultural Affairs
Jasmine Marin, Artist, Student at Art Institute of Chicago
Tom Rudnai, President/General Manager, Longo Toyota/Scion/Lexus
George Borst, President & CEO, Toyota Financial Services
Ian Cartabiano,Toyota’s Studio Chief Designer, Calty Design Research
Karen Ideno, VP of Product and Marketing, Toyota Financial Services

The Toyota Dream Car Art Contest is an annual contest designed to inspire creativity in youth and imagine the future of mobility.From Feb. 1 – Feb. 28, youth across the U.S., ages 4-15, were invited to create and submit a drawing of their idea of a “Dream Car.”

Winners of the worldwide Toyota Dream Car Art Contest are chosen from three age categories (4-9 years old; 10-12 years old; and 13-15 years old), and judging is based on three criteria: execution of concept; uniqueness; and artistry.