TOYOTA Jamaica Limited is hoping to get more local involvement in the Toyota Dream Car Art competition this year. The company is buoyed by last year’s performance of Athalia Clarke. The 11-year-old Queen’s Prep School student won the local leg of the competition and had her piece selected as part of the 30 global finalists.

Clarke would eventually make the trek to Japan and collected an encouragement award, making her as the first to be chosen and reach that stage of the competition.

“We have been receiving more entries from 2016 and we are currently trying to double what we had last year,” Tracy-Ann Fletcher, assistant marketing manager of Toyota Jamaica Limited, told the Jamaica Observer’s weekly Auto magazine.

To this end, they’ve increased media presence and reached out to more schools in hope of drawing more participation from students like Clarke. As further encouragement, there are now prizes for each winner of the three age categories: under 8-years-old, 8-11-years-old, and 12-15-years-old. The top three schools and the one with the most entries are all eligible for prizes as well. The Toyota Dream Car art contest closes on February 16, 2018.

“We are hoping to have another winner from Jamaica in Japan this year,” Fletcher said.

— Rory Daley