For Immediate Release: May 10, 2006

Contact: Kimberly Allen, (202) 226-8364; (202) 420-1524 [cell]

Rep. Rothman Announces 2006 Congressional Art Competition Winners

Saddle Brook Photography Students Finish 1st and 2nd Place; Abstract Painting by Bergen County Academies Student Finishes 3rd

Pictured: Congressman Rothman Presents 1st Place Congressional Certificate to Saddle Brook Student Kristen Zavada

(Hackensack, NJ)— On Monday night, Congressman Steve Rothman (D-Fair Lawn) hosted the 2006 Congressional Art Competition at the Hackensack Cultural Arts Center. He announced this year’s winners as follows— First Place: Kristen Zavada of Saddle Brook; Second Place: Maria Eleftheriadis of Saddle Brook; Third Place: Taery Kim of the Bergen County Academies; Honorable Mentions: Jessica Kicha of Saddle Brook and Sumin Park of Palisades Park.

“I congratulate Kristen, Maria, Taery, Jessica and Sumin, as well as the other talented artists in this year’s Congressional Art Competition. This event is one of my favorites each year because it is an opportunity to showcase the unique abilities of our high school students in North Jersey and to highlight the importance of arts education,” said Rothman. “I encourage all of this year’s participants to keep art in their lives forever; be it through their careers or as part of their non-work lives.”

This year’s competition featured artwork from 55 local high school students from schools in Hackensack, Lodi, Lyndhurst, North Bergen, Palisades Park, Teaneck, Teterboro and Wallington. The winning piece was a photograph titled "Down the Rabbit Hole". Second place went to another photography student for her image of a baby in its mother’s arms ("Cradled Lullaby"). Third place was an abstract acrylic/oil painting on canvas ("Bodies in Motion"). The two honorable mentions were a portrait of a young woman ("Dream from Reality") by Sumin Park and a photograph of the sun melting ice on a railing at sunset ("Glazed Twilight") by Jessica Kicha.

The first place entry will be displayed in the halls of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC, for a full year and the artist, Kristen Zavada, is invited to attend the official ribbon-cutting ceremony for all Congressional Art Competition winners in June. Artwork by the second and third place winners will be on display in Rothman’s Congressional offices.

Rothman, a long-time supporter of the arts, has hosted this competition every year since his election to Congress nearly a decade ago. The Congressional Art Competition is an annual nationwide high school art competition sponsored by the Congressional Arts Caucus and initiated by Members of Congress in their districts. It is an opportunity for students across the country to exhibit their artwork and receive national recognition.

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"Down the Rabbit hole" by Kristen Zavada

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