RESULTS OF THE WESTIN ST. LOUIS / CID STUDENT
ART CONTEST: "PLACES IN ST. LOUIS"

ST. LOUIS, Missouri, April 27, 2005 - Matthew Monette, 9, of Creve Coeur, Missouri, was the winner of a local art contest with an artwork entitled simply "St. Louis," at The Westin St. Louis hotel on April 27, 2005. A student at Central Institute for the Deaf (CID) in St. Louis, Missouri, Monette is one of 18 CID primary-middle school students who competed in a contest to put their artwork on the cover of the Clark Street Grill children’s menu. In addition to this honor, he also received four roundtrip airplane tickets from St. Louis to Orlando, hotel accommodations and a family pass to visit Disney World, courtesy of The Westin St. Louis and Southwest Airlines. On hand to congratulate Monette were celebrity judge Charles Brennan, KMOX Radio in St. Louis, The Westin St. Louis general manager Michael C. Jorgensen, celebrity judge Randy Jackson, KSDK-TV News Channel 5 St. Louis weekend anchor, St. Louis Cardinals mascot, Fredbird, and celebrity judge Betty Cuniberti, a columnist at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Also serving as celebrity judges were Tony La Russa, manager of the St. Louis Cardinals and local St. Louis artist Carol Carter (not shown). Lezlie Silverstein of the Center for Contemporary Arts in St. Louis and CID teacher Julia West helped the children create their paintings.

Anuye Hill, 7, a CID student from St. Louis, received second place honors with "The Hotel."  Ardian Pollo, 9, also of St. Louis, took third place with "Art Hall."  These works can also be viewed on The Westin St. Louis Clark Street Grill children's menu. 

For more information, visit The Westin St. Louis on the Web at www.westin.com/stlouis

For Media Contacts:  Barbara Pierce, Millennium Communications Inc., 314/569-7100 (office) 314/580-8593 (cell) or bpierce@millenniumcom.com.  

These photos and others are available from kreadmond@cid.wustl.edu at Central Institute for the Deaf

PARTNERSHIP PROJECT HIGHLIGHTS ST. LOUIS

Michael C. Jorgensen, general manager of The Westin St. Louis, recently spearheaded a special project that  involved two of his great loves in life - hearing-impaired children and the revitalization of his favorite city, St. Louis. Jorgensen, the father of a hearing-impaired child, decided he wanted to do something to combine engaging hearing-impaired children in the world with his enthusiasm for a revitalized city of St. Louis. So, he cooked up a plan to develop a new children's menu at the hotel's popular downtown restaurant, The Clark Street Grill, which will feature artwork on the menu cover by a student from Central Institute for the Deaf (CID), a world-renowned educational center for deaf and hearing-impaired children, also in the city of St. Louis.

Located adjacent to the site of the new downtown baseball stadium and village, The Westin St. Louis has played a vital part in St. Louis' renaissance as the first redevelopment within the Cupples Warehouse complex.

"These children are very talented and we want to showcase their work," said Jorgensen. "Every print or painting in our hotel is by a St. Louis native. By featuring CID students' artwork on our children's menus, we felt it would be a nice way to familiarize visitors with both St. Louis and one of our city's world-class institutions."

CID's primary-middle school students, ages 6-12, created  paintings of their favorite places in St. Louis, focusing on familiar landmarks and attractions. To create their contest entries, the students received guidance from Lezlie Silverstein, an art teacher from the Center of Contemporary Art (COCA), and CID teacher Julia West.

The students' artwork was juried on April 27 by a St. Louis celebrity panel  including Charles Brennan of  KMOX radio, local artist Carol Carter, Betty Cuniberti of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Randy Jackson of KSDK-TV News Channel 5 in St. Louis, and Tony La Russa, manager of the St. Louis Cardinals. An awards banquet was held at The Westin for the students and their parents. CID student Matthew Monette of Creve Coeur, Missouri, the first place winner, received  four round-trip airplane tickets from St. Louis to Orlando, hotel accommodations and a family pass to visit Disney World, courtesy of The Westin St. Louis and Southwest Airlines. The second place winner, Anuye Hill of St. Louis, received weekend hotel accommodations at the Westin River North in Chicago and tickets to the Lincoln Park Zoo. The third place winner, Ardian Pollo of St. Louis, received four tickets to Silver Dollar City, Celebration City, the Showboat Branson Belle, and two nights' accommodations at the Chateau on the Lake in Branson.

Located at the southernmost tip of the Washington University School of Medicine complex within the city, Central Institute for the Deaf (CID) is where deaf and hearing-impaired children from birth to age 12 learn to listen, talk and achieve literacy without the use of sign language. CID also has an educational outreach center, which offers mainstreaming assistance for deaf and hearing-impaired students, continuing education for professionals, consultation and training for schools starting oral education programs for deaf children, and educational tools used to help deaf children throughout the world. 

In fall of 2004, The Westin St. Louis earned the No. 1 ranking for customer service by Westin guests worldwide. The 12-month survey garnered more than 800,000 e-mail responses that critiqued all hotel services, including dining experiences.

For more information, visit The Westin St. Louis on the web at www.westin.com/stlouis.

The Westin St. Louis is located at 811 Spruce St., St. Louis, Missouri  63102.

Photos by Kim Readmond