Congressman Rick Berg announced the nine finalists for the 2012 Congressional Art Competition and encouraged fellow North Dakotans to cast their vote on Facebook to help determine the first place winner.

“North Dakota has a rich history of creativity and artistic talent and I applaud all of the North Dakota high school students who participated in this year’s Congressional Art Competition,” Congressman Rick Berg stated. “After viewing the artwork submitted to my office, one thing is certain there is no shortage of up-and-coming artists here in North Dakota. I now encourage everyone to visit my Facebook page to help make the tough decision of selecting a first place winner.”

Below is a list of the finalists, along with their respective schools:

Anastasia Burkhart, Central High School

Mandy Marboe, Dickinson High School

DelRay Audet, Magic City Campus

William Rerick, Red River High School

Stephanie Mondry, Red River High School

Brady Laurin, Red River High School

Tanner Lind, Rugby High School

Shyla Poitra, White Shield High School

Hunter Braunberger, Jamestown High School

The nine finalists were selected by regional art departments at Bismarck State College, Minot State University, University of North Dakota, and North Dakota State University.

By logging on to www.facebook.com/RepRickBerg, Facebook users can view the artwork of the nine finalists under the 2012 Congressional Art Competition Finalist Facebook photo album. Voting can be done by “liking” a piece of art, and will end at midnight on Saturday, May 5th. The final winner, and runners-up, will be announced on Monday morning, May 7th.

The winner’s artwork will hang in the United States Capitol for an entire year, representing North Dakota in the “Artistic Discovery” exhibition. The winning student will also receive two complimentary plane tickets from Minneapolis to Washington, D.C., courtesy of Southwest Airlines, to attend the Exhibition Grand Opening Celebration.

Runner-up artwork will be displayed in Berg’s Washington D.C., Fargo, Bismarck and Minot offices.