Punahou student’s artwork among Google Doodle finalists

Artwork by Punahou School student Allison Lin is Hawaii’s representative entry in the 15th annual Doodle for Google contest, and Thursday is the final day for the public to cast votes to help select five finalists for the national top prize.

Art from all 55 state and territory representatives can be viewed and voted on at doodles.google.com/d4g/vote/. The deadline to vote is 8:59 p.m. Hawaii time on Thursday.

The national winner’s artwork will be displayed on Google.com for one day. The artist will receive a $30,000 college scholarship and a $50,000 technology package for their school or nonprofit organization.

Lin’s artwork, which celebrates her Chinese background, was among tens of thousands of submissions in the eighth to ninth grade age group, said a Google news release. The art is titled, “Made By My Heritage.”

Lin also wrote for her entry: “I am grateful for my Chinese heritage. In this Doodle, I included different aspects that I love and value. There are my comfort foods: steamed soup dumplings and my grandpa’s noodles; a photo of my mom and me in traditional clothes with our zodiac signs (tiger and pig); a photo of lanterns, a familiar sight of celebration; calligraphy with the words for love and blessed; and my panda plushie with a stalk of bamboo.”

The 55 state and territory winners were chosen by a panel of judges, based on such criteria as artistic skill, creativity, originality, representation of the contest theme “I am grateful for …,” use of the Google logo and the unique and novel approach to the doodle. Each of the 55 won a Chromebook.

The five finalists will be selected through a combination of public voting and scoring by a panel of Google doodler artists and guest judges. The four national finalists who do not become the national winner each will win a $5,000 college scholarship, a trip to Google headquarters and a Chromebook. A panel of Google employees will choose the national winner.