Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Taylor Attends Talent Convention

Rebekka Taylor of Canadian, Texas, formerly of Gurdon, attended a convention of International Modeling and Talent Association (IMTA) in New York July 11-20.

She is the daughter of David and Priscilla Taylor. She is the granddaughter of J.W. Taylor and the late Lee and Jean Mauldin.

IMTA is a professional organization that produces two annual conventions, which are held in New York and Los Angeles.

These conventions attract the top international agents and personal managers from every major market in the world. Over 150 agents and scouts come from Paris, Milan, Tokyo, Hamburg, New York and Los Angeles.

Out of 8,000 competitiors at this year's New York convention, Taylor won awards from being in the top ten in three categories, fashion print, best smile and runway modeling. She also participated in a team runway dance competition in which the team won third place.

Agencies from Australia, Korea, Los Angeles, New York and Milan requested interviews with Taylor. The two she is most interested in and is under contract neogotiatins with is the One Up Agency in Milan and McDonald and Richards Agency in New York. Both agencies are willing to wait until Rebekka graduates in May to finalize her contract negotiations.

In April, Taylor entered an LA Looks Models Search Contest in Amarillo, Texas, where she won first place.

Heinz Holba, president of LA Looks, the largest fashion agency on the west coast, judged the LA Looks contest in which Rebekka won first place, a trip to New York, a $100 gift certificate, a year's supply of LA Looks products, and an automatic entry into the National LA Looks Model Search Contest. Taylor was notified on July 10 that out of several thousand entries she had made the semifinals.

Taylor's parents said that they know "modeling has been a dream of hers since she was a little girl," and they are happy she is getting the opportunity to pursue this dream. "We take confort in knowing that Rebekka's love for God and family come first with her and that these will be a major influences in the decisions that she makes on her way to achieving her life goals," a news release states.

Rebekka plans to model next summer and then attend Oklahoma State University in the fall.