Rourkela: The School of Fine Arts, the oldest art education institute here, held its 40th convocation for its graduating students on Sunday evening.

General secretary of cultural institute Akhaya Samal said: "This is our 40th convocation for the graduating students and this time we had 12 students who received their pass out certificates. They have been exposed to all mediums like pencil, acrylic, water colour and oil during their four year stay with us."

At present, there are more than 120 students in various classes. The State Lalit Kala Academy provides certificate for the course.

Students of all the classes displayed their expertise in a mini exhibition, which was held on the academy premises at Sector-5. Prachujya Priyadarshini, found her place amongst the top ten in the competition conducted by the ministry of petro chemical.

Prarthana Lenka stood first in the all-India painting competition amongst the ICSE schools in Varanasi. Lenka also stood first in the Lalit Kala Academy's state level competition held recently.

This apart, 27 got merit certificates and two students - Anuska Basak and Sneha Mohanty - got silver medals in the competition organised by Khitij Art Academy.

The evening started a little late as heavy rain and wind lashed the city for more than two hours. This time, the event was dedicated to late noted artist Dinanath Pathi.

The institute has a rich tradition of creating national level artists such as Alok Bala, Deepak Mahakul, Jaidev Biswal and Dinesh Handa. Many of its graduating students have qualified later in institutes like National Institute of Design and National Institute of Fashion Technology and other reputed arts schools.