Festival of the Arts & Film Festival Recognize Students' Creative Talents
At the Xavier Film Festival and the Festival of the Arts, both held on Friday, May 15, members of the student body were recognized for their creative talents.
The 8th annual Xavier Film Festival showcased the work of seniors who took the Moviemaking and Editing with Final Cut Pro course. This class, which is taught by Science & Technology Chair Michael Chiafulio, requires students to create short films throughout the course of the year, and the Film Festival serves to honor their hard work. At the Film Festival, several students received honors for their films. The Xavier Oscar went to the team of Joe Danylchuk ’15, Chris Pia ’15, Colin Scanley ’15, and Rob Warner ’15 for their film Banana Boy, which can be viewed here. Other students also received awards for Best Director, Best Editor, and Best Overall Technical Skill respectively.
The Festival of the Arts has been an end-of-the-year celebration for 25 years running. This year’s iteration included work from students from all four grades, ranging from art presentations and poetry readings to band and vocal performances. Fine Arts Chair Denise Iacovone said that the event is “a terrific way for students who have been working hard all year to display their work in public.”
In addition to having their work displayed, students had the opportunity to have their art reviewed by a panel of six Xavier alumni who work as professional artists. This panel of judges, consisting of Jason Cauchi ’98, Tom Kirrane Martinez ’99, Dan Gearity ’03, and Sean McDonough ’03, evaluated each piece separately, with awards going to the top artists in each grade.
Tom Sternglass ’15, a four-year veteran of the art studio who will study at the Pratt Institute next year, found his last Festival of the Arts to be an incredibly gratifying experience. “It was great to present a year’s worth of hard work last Friday,” Tom said. “The Festival reminded me of the strong relationships that I was able to build with my art teachers in my four years here, and how my education here has prepared me for my future art studies.”