Free Reception and Awards Ceremony at Brooks Cota Campus
Student Photography Celebrates Santa Barbara County as Part of Off Axis Program

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. -- (September 5, 2006) – Brooks Institute invites the public to a free reception and awards ceremony on Thursday, September 14, from 5:30-7:30 p.m., at the Brooks Cota Street campus and gallery on the corner of Cota and Anacapa (in the historic Lyons building).  Refreshments will be served and reservations are not required.

The event will feature selected photography submitted by students as part of the ‘Choose Your View’ contest that Brooks initiated, in conjunction with September’s month-long contemporary arts festival, Off Axis, inaugurated this year by the Santa Barbara County Arts Commission.  The contest, which is sponsored by Samys Camera and Specialty Color Services, urged the student photographers to look at Santa Barbara County in a new, edgy way.  Contest winners will be announced and awards presented at the reception.  The photos will be on display at the gallery through October 15, 2007.  In addition, the winning entry will be featured on the Brooks Institute website.

About Brooks Institute
Brooks Institute recently celebrated its 60th year of educating students in the visual media. With its campuses in Santa Barbara and Ventura, California, (which includes two sound stages for filmmaking), the school has more than 2200 students pursuing Masters, Bachelors, Associates and diploma programs in fields including professional photography, visual journalism, film and video production and Graphic Design. Brooks’ graduates are visible nationally and internationally, working for distinguished organizations including National Geographic, Smithsonian, Los Angeles Times and other national media outlets, including Hallmark Publishing, Cousteau Society, HBO, Kodak and other industry leaders in visual media fields.

For more information about Brooks Institute and the school’s Film & Video Production program, visit www.brooks.edu