Thank You San Jose!

The March 2 SharkByte Art Charity Auction was a smashing success, raising a quarter million dollars for charities and arts groups with a final auction total of $257,900.

More than 750 potential buyers attended the evening auction at the San Jose McEnery Convention Center. A total of 99 sharks were sold, with the top bid of $20,000 going to Peter Winter's "Megabyte," a shark dressed in a San Jose Sharks jersey and benefiting The Sharks Foundation.

Local charities and arts groups received 85 percent of the auction proceeds. The 10 highest-bidding sharks fetched sale prices of $5,000 or greater, and 27 sharks sold for $3,000 or higher. For a complete list of sharks and auction prices, check the official SharkByte Art website, www.SharkByteArt.com.

Three sculptures were purchased outright before the auction, in partnership with downtown neighborhood associations. The exhibit of shark sculptures began August 1, 2001, and was extended when the auction was rescheduled from a planned November date to March 2002.

"The auction's success is a real tribute to the creativity and spirit of our many artists who embraced this project and the commitment of our project sponsors," said Scott Knies, executive director of the San Jose Downtown Association. "We're thrilled to see the entire school of sharks go to good homes."

Virtual tours of the collection are still availble by logging onto www.SharkByteArt.com and checking out the photo gallery (Adobe Acrobat required).

SharkByte Art is presented by IBM, in partnership with the San Jose Convention and Visitor’s Bureau, San Jose Redevelopment Agency, City of San Jose Arts Commission and Garden City Construction.

Additional sponsors include VTA, KPIX Channel 5, BayArea.com, Silicon Valley Community Newspapers, Metro Newspapers, Silicon Valley Business Ink, Valley Scene, Mix 106.5, B 94.5, Yahoo! Auctions and The Sharks Foundation.

SharkByte Art is a San Jose Downtown Association production.