Bellarmine College Preparatory Students Garner Top Awards in Olympiad for the Arts.

News Editors/Business Editors

SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 18, 2004

Fine Arts Students Honored for Outstanding Creativity in Visual

Arts, Win Best in Show and First Place

Bellarmine College Preparatory today announced that its students have been honored with "Best in Show" and "First Place" awards at the 2004 Olympiad for the Arts. Over 25 Bellarmine students were selected to exhibit work at this year's Olympiad for the Arts. Junior Matt Sobel won "Best in Show" for his work entitled "blank." First Place went to a group of Bellarmine students for their collaborative project, "The Dinner Party."

Each spring, the Olympiad of the Arts recognizes the outstanding creative and performing talents of college and high school students in Santa Clara County and encourages their continued study and growth in the arts. The 2004 Olympiad of the Arts is sponsored by the West Valley/Mission Colleges Foundation and supported by Arts Council Silicon Valley and the Saratoga Rotary Art Show.

"We couldn't be more proud of each of the students exhibiting at the Olympiad for the Arts. That their work has been honored with Best in Show and First Place is a great accomplishment for our students and their teachers," said Mark Pierotti, Principal at Bellarmine. "We believe that education in the visual arts is an invaluable tool in multicultural understanding and in building self-esteem. By nurturing creativity in young people, our goal is to help our students develop skills and learn methods and techniques they can utilize throughout their lives."

A collaborative project, First Place winner "The Dinner Party" was created in celebration of Women's History Month. Students created a place setting celebrating a woman whom they admired. Each setting includes a plate with symbols that depict the woman's achievements or philosophy, a cup or chalice and a third item of their choice. Women represented in the students' work ranged from artist Frida Kahlo and world-class surfer Lisa Andersen, to Elizabeth Blackwell, the first woman to graduate from medical school. First Prize winners for this collaborative project are: Sanjay Bhatia, Scott Biggi, Michael Frederick, Patrick Gillick, Alex Indaco, Sohail Najafi, Garret Padia, Chris Rusteen, Matt Wagstaffe and Andrew Zbin.

The Olympiad for the Arts runs March 12-24 at The Art Gallery, West Valley College Campus Center in Saratoga.

About Bellarmine College Preparatory

Bellarmine College Preparatory has been educating young men since 1851, when it was originally founded on the same campus as Santa Clara University. The school has been at its current location on West Hedding in San Jose's College Park district for 78 years. Bellarmine students are educated in the Jesuit tradition of St. Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Society of Jesus, and are encouraged to become "men for others". While Bellarmine strives for academic excellence, the school also seeks to instill a sense of responsibility through a variety of community ministry and Christian Service Programs. Bellarmine has a current enrollment of 1450 and a faculty/staff of 150.