Christmas Story Art Competition 2013 Each year, the Archdiocese of Sydney and the Dioceses of Bathurst and Wollongong participate in an art competition. Students are invited to submit art, in different mediums, illustrating the Christmas Story - with various criteria to be met. Those selected as the best from the each Diocese go to Sydney for final judging. After many months of preparation and effort, the Official Opening of the Diocesan Christmas Art Exhibition was held at the Girra Girra Hall, St Philomena's School Bathurst in September. Around 80 teachers, parents, students and parishoners were present at the opening of the Exhibition, which ran for a week. Following a prayerful liturgy, guests were invited into the School Hall all for the official opening and the naming of the major Diocesan prize winners. In total, 122 pieces of art were submitted as Diocesan finalists, and after much discernment from our CSU judges and Mr Les Quick, the major winners were selected. These and other selected artworks will now progress to Sydney as they compete against schools from the Archdiocese of Sydney and the Diocese of Wollongong in the major competition. Congratulations to all students and teachers for what was an overwhelming response, and a level of work that can only be described as outstanding. Acknowledgement is made of the hundreds of students who entered the competition and their teachers for facilitating this most worthwhile activity. Special acknowledgement must be given to Mr Les Quick, Visual Arts teacher at James Sheahan Catholic High School for facilitating workshops with RECs and teachers, and whose great interest made this event such a success. The photos of the artwork on these pages are courtesy of Les. We are especially grateful to Mrs Jenny Bray for her preparations in the gathering liturgy. Lorraine Short and Angelo Belmonte
(Full list of Prize Winners on final page)