Photograph by Kathy De La Torre
Say Cheese: The photograph at left, by Alexandra Lowe of Gunn High School, is on display as part of the Olympiad of the Arts exhibit at Montalvo.
Students show their award-winning photos at Montalvo
By Shari Kaplan
Villa Montalvo's focus on promoting the arts--especially to open young people's minds to it--fits well with the theme of Olympiad of the Arts 2000, a competition open to students in all Santa Clara County high schools and colleges.
The competition was begun in 1928 by U.S. Sen. James Phelan, whose house Montalvo was, and Dr. Henry Meade Bland, an English professor at then-San Jose State College. They hoped to encourage arts and humanities by holding a quadrennial contest for students. Originally, it involved only poetry. The Olympiad took a hiatus during the Great Depression and World War II. Benefactor Gwendolen Brooks Penniman revived the Olympiad in 1956, in collaboration with the Edwin Markham Poetry Society of San Jose.
The contest has evolved to include literature, short stories, poetry, drama, musical composition, vocal music, sculpture, choreography, photography and the visual arts. Since 1984, it has been an annual event. The photographic portion, made up this year of approximately 120 entries, completely fills the walls at the Gallery at Montalvo. Most are in black and white. There are also some computer-manipulated digital images.
The exhibit runs the gamut from Ansel Adamsesque landscapes and dewdrop-covered flowers to engaging portraits of children, young adults and seniors.Plenty of images are open to interpretation as well, from a colorful montage on the topic of body art to a surrealistic trio of doorsteps rising from a field in the middle of nowhere.
"Many times students' work refreshes ideas in my mind that may have become 'old hat' ways of looking at things," says Max Crumley, a professional photographer and West Valley College photography instructor who juried the show along with Wes and Cookie Hammond, also experienced photographers and art jurors.
"Students haven't come to a point yet where they've adopted a 'me, too' kind of attitude. Their work is always interesting," adds Crumley. He says he often feels inspired to try new things in his own work after looking at this exhibit, which he has judged for many years.
As for the photographs prepared with computer imaging software such as Adobe PhotoShop and printed on photo-quality paper, Crumley says he doesn't mind alternative ways of printing photographs, especially since today's programs can do almost everything darkroom equipment can do to an image, such as dodging, burning, cropping, adjusting the focus or changing the contrast.
"A computer is as valid as the smelly, dark cavern of a traditional darkroom," he says.
Olympiad of the Arts runs through May 7. The Gallery, at 15400 Montalvo Road, is open Wednesday through Sunday, 1 to 4 p.m. For information, call 408.961.5813 or visit www.villamontalvo.org on the Internet.
Willow Glen, California Since 1992
