The opening reception of the Student Art Exhibit was held Sunday, March 25, 2007 from 1 p.m.-3:30 p.m. in The Gallery of Contemporary Art.

The award ceremony started at 2 p.m. sharp. Professional artists, from outside of the campus community, were the judges of the students artwork.

There were three categories of awards: Foundation, Intermediate, and Advanced.

In the category of Foundation, those who won an award for honorable mention were Bryan Cocco for his pencil and ink piece, "Moon Knight: Pages 1 and 2" and Andre Picard for his black and white piece, "Beauty at Rest."

Whitney Mills won second place for her pen and ink piece, "Captain America."

"I chose to create this piece for fun, which was originally from an actual comic," said Mills, sophomore, Harrisburg, Pa. After graduating, Mills hopes to continue to use art with a career in advertising.

The first place award in the Foundation category went to Christine Palumbo for her black and white piece, "Model."

The award presentation continued as the Intermediate category of awards was announced. Honorable mention was awarded to three students: Allie Gillman, Mike Ivers, and Tiffany Lindeborn.

There was a tie for both first and second places for the Intermediate category. Winners for second place were Sam Bolles for his colored pencil piece, "Baylor Baseball" and Rob Labadie for his illustrator piece, "Black Light."

Once again winning first place in a category was Christine Palumbo, this time for her graphite piece, "John Lennon."

"We did research on portraits and chose which one we thought was the best," said Palumbo, sophomore, Cedar Grove, N.J.

Palumbo has enjoyed art since she was very young and hopes to someday work for a magazine company.

Also winning a first place award in the Intermediate category was Andre Picard for his Photoshop piece, "Typeface Description."

Michele Panella won the award for honorable mention for her digital print piece, "Living on Adrenaline," in the Advanced final awards category.

The winner of the second place award in Advanced was Louis Gentile for his Adobe Creative Suite 2, 24 piece, "Nike Bauer Annual Report." The final and first place award was won by Julia Mahoney for her Photoshop piece, "Wedding Invitation."

Mahoney, a graphic design major, was inspired by her family to create this piece.

"My brother is getting married in September and he needed wedding invitations." said Mahoney, senior, Topsfield, Mass.

For those who wish to view The Student Art Exhibit, it is scheduled to run until April 18, 2007 in The Gallery of Contemporary Art.