The International Academy of the Visual Arts announced designations today for The 2007 W3 Awards. The Art Institute of Pittsburgh took a Gold Award. The W3 is sanctioned and judged by the IAVA, an invitation-only body consisting of top-tier professionals from media, interactive, advertising, and marketing firms such as The Ellen Degeneres Show, Estee Lauder, MTV, Polo Ralph Lauren, Wired, Yahoo!, and many others.

"We were incredibly impressed by the quality and creativity of this year's entries. W3 winners continue to raise the bar in Web development and design, push the limits of web advertising creative, and pioneer the use of web video. We are thrilled to have reviewed such a diverse and respected pool of work" said Linda Day, the director of the IAVA. "On behalf of the entire Academy, we applaud our winners as they continue to advance Internet creativity and greatly contribute to the burgeoning online world."

Sites are judged based on a standard of excellence as determined by the IAVA, according to the category entered. To uphold a high standard of excellence, a category may have multiple winners, or may have no winners at all. Entries are scored on a ten point scale by the judges. Less than 10% of all entries are selected as Gold Winners.

In 2006, the Gold Award winners for the "School/University" categories were Loyola Marymount University and Full Sail. The Gold Award winners for the "School/University" category in 2007 were The Art Institute of Pittsburgh and Loyola Marymount University.

The Art Institute of Pittsburgh’s site was designed by Sean O’Brien, under the creative direction of Norman Huelsman, both 2003 alumni. The site is developed and managed by Alexis Chontos, Webmaster and Carrie Butler, Director of Public Relations for the college, oversees the strategic direction of the site.

For information about the 2007 WebAwards, visit The International Academy of the Visual Arts W3 Awards site.