/PRNewswire/ - Wacom® announces its "A Thousand Forests" online contest, a friendly competition geared to promote creative expression and philanthropy. The contest draws its inspiration from Ralph Waldo Emerson's famous line – "the creation of a thousand forests is in one acorn" – which reminds us of the power of art, creativity and community development. Open to virtually all categories of artistic expression including illustration, painting, design, photography and sketching, the contest starts today and runs through November 30, 2011. All entries, excluding video, whether created with traditional or digital media, will be accepted. Contest rules, content submission deadlines, voting and prize information are at http://contest.wacom.com.

Children First

For every person who participates, Wacom will donate $5.00 (USD) per entry to the International Child Art Foundation (ICAF), headquartered in Washington, D.C., in order for the charity to collect up to a maximum of $25,000 for its programs and activities. The ICAF's mission is to integrate the arts with the full spectrum of scholastic requirements to help develop children's innate creativity. "We are extremely pleased that Wacom selected the ICAF on behalf of each participant of A Thousand Forests contest," said Dr. Ashfaq Ishaq, ICAF Executive Chairman. "Wacom's global reach, ceaseless innovation and continued technological support of art, design and photography education, makes the company an ideal partner to spearhead and support creativity as intrinsically important in the development of our children."

Key Contest Information

The contest runs from October 5 to November 30, 2011 with the last entries uploaded by midnight Pacific Standard Time (PST). Voting will take place in two stages with the online community selecting its favorite entries from November 19 to December 16. The top 200 candidates will be presented to a distinguished panel organized by Wacom which will select three grand prize winners to be announced on January 2, 2012.  

Grand prize winners will receive an all-expenses paid* trip to the Santa Fe Photographic Workshops in Santa Fe, New Mexico for a workshop of their choice with top-level instructors. Consult http://www.santafeworkshops.com for more information.    

About Wacom

Founded in 1983, Wacom's vision to bring people and technology closer together through natural interface technologies has made it the world's leading manufacturer of pen tablets, interactive pen displays and digital interface solutions. The advanced technology of Wacom's intuitive input devices has been used to create some of the most exciting digital art, films, special effects, fashions and designs around the world and provide business and home users with the ability to explore digital content creation in a comfortable, natural way.

*Please see contest site for complete details on Grand Prize requirements and restrictions for Santa Fe Photographic Workshops.

Wacom Technology Services, Corp.

Wacom Technology Services, Corp.

Inspired by natural human abilities to create, our patented pen and touch input technology allows freedom of expression, inspired creativity, and drastic improvements in productivity, control and comfort. From product development and graphic design to the media and entertainment sectors, Wacom facilitates the work of individuals and workgroups with truly natural ways to work with digital content.

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