Mayo student stars in Toyota car art contest
Pictured are the winners of this year's Toyota Ireland Dream Car Art competition. Picture: Conor McCabe Photography
A young student from Mayo is among the winners of this year’s Toyota Dream Car Art Contest.
Twelve-year-old Olivia Witczak from Castlebar placed third in the 12-15 years category. Now in its 17th year, the hugely popular contest saw over 730 entries across three age categories submitted by children around Ireland.
Toyota’s Dream Car Art Contest asks children from all across the world to illustrate their vision of the car for the future. Children are encouraged to be as creative and innovative as possible with their entries and develop something that they would like to see on the roads – or even in the skies – themselves one day. The Toyota Ireland Dream Car Art awards were judged by Helene Hugel, CEO and Artistic Director of Helium Arts and Mark O'Kelly, Head of Painting at the National College of Art and Design.
Oliwia was awarded third prize for her brilliant piece of art, ‘The Car of the Future’. Olivia’s drawing shows a futuristic car with dark, mystical features, including an incredible rainbow windshield. Her car is one that would, undoubtedly, intimidate any other that dared to initiate a race. Olivia’s works of art, along with the winning entries from the eight other Irish finalists, will now be put forward to compete against the nine finalists from each participating country in the global part of the competition. The global competition sees the international finalists compete for a grand prize of $5,000 and $10,000 for the ultimate winner’s school to go towards educational resources.
Zoë Bradley, Head of Marketing Communications and Corporate Affairs at Toyota Ireland, said: “The Dream Car Art Contest is an inclusive initiative that has been running for 17 years now and is very much reflective of our ‘Built for a Better World’ brand promise. The global competition brings together children of all ages, abilities, backgrounds, and ethnicities, showcasing the breadth of imagination and visionary thinking of Ireland’s young and upcoming artists. At Toyota Ireland, we believe imagination fuels innovation and are proud to support the next generation of innovators in Ireland."
