GM & Latino Art Beat Top Local Winners.

General Motors Corp. and Latino Art Beat announced that five students from different cities won local “What Hispanic/Latino Heritage and Culture Mean to Me!” art contests and will go on to compete for the national grand prize of a $10,000 scholarship and a chance to have his artwork appear in GM’s Hispanic Heritage Month advertising.

“GM believes in the enormous potential of the Hispanic community,” said Felipe Herrera, director of Hispanic Marketing for GM. “That is why we support Latino Art Beat, which encourages young Latinos artists across the country to celebrate our Hispanic heritage.”

Latino Art Beat is a nonprofit organization promoting Hispanic youth involvement in the arts through local scholarship competitions in Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, and Washington, D.C.

Each local winner was awarded a $3,000 scholarship. The winners are:

Chicago
Isac Enriquez,
Whitney Young High School
“La Calabaza” — oil on paper painting
College of Choice: School of the Art Institute of Chicago

Houston
Elvin Roman
Cesar Chavez High School
“My History, My Culture” — mixed media drawing
College of Choice: University of Houston

Los Angeles
Jose Rojas
Venice High School
“The Spirit of Sharing” – oil on canvas painting
College of Choice: Undecided

Miami
Salim Cortes
Design and Architecture Senior High
“Mi Pueblo” — mixed media drawing
College of Choice: Columbus College of Art & Design

Washington, D.C.
Will Schneider-White
Duke Ellington School of the Arts
“Portrait of Maria” — acrylic on canvas painting
College of Choice: Cooper Union College.

“This year’s competition was a success. We are pleased that so many schools were involved and we applaud their dedication and commitment to their talented students,” said Latino Art Beat Founder and President Don Rossi Nuccio.

The national grand prize winner of the contest will be announced in Los Angeles on Friday, September 23rd. The winning student will be awarded a $10,000 scholarship and have his or her artwork appear in GM’s national print and online Hispanic Heritage month advertising campaign in September and October.

This is the third year GM has sponsored the Latino Art Beat competition. For more than two decades, GM has been a dedicated contributor to the education of Hispanic students. In 2004 alone, GM provided Latino students with scholarships worth more than $700,000. GM also partners with several educational organizations such as the Hispanic Scholarship Fund and the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities.