It was an archetypal college town scene: students sipping cappuccinos in a cozy coffeehouse while a jazz combo played in the corner. But there was a twist: Most of the patrons had come to admire the art on the walls, all of it paintings by local Jewish students.

Everyone was gathered at Stanford University's CoHo coffeehouse May 31 to celebrate the culmination of the Bezalel Jewish Arts Initiative, a new program coordinated by Hillel of Stanford and the Jewish Campus Service Corps (JCSC).

Up and running since January, the arts initiative invited Stanford's Jewish students to participate in a series of weekly visual art, dance and writing workshops. No experience necessary; just a willingness to explore Jewish identity through creative expression.

"The program tried to engage students based on the idea that students don't have time to add another activity," says Gail Swedroe, a dancer, JCSC fellow and co-creator of the arts initiative. "So we focused on the arts."

The Kolker-Saxon-Hallock Family Foundation provided a grant of $1,500 to get the arts initiative off the ground.

Swedroe, 22, is barely older than the 26 students in the program, but that was intentional. She and program co-founder Jon Katz, 23, parlayed their youth to entice students to sign up. In addition to co-running the program, Katz participated as the creative writing teacher.

"The intention was to develop a community of writers who would be able to explore Jewish topics," says Katz, "expressing through writing what it means to be Jewish."

One of those writers is Daniel Slate, 19, of Los Altos. The Stanford freshman plans to major in economics or philosophy, and had no previous arts background. "I like writing and always wanted to get better at it," he says. "I was at Hillel one day and Jon mentioned the writers' circle. I said I would try it."

The writers' circle met at Hillel of Stanford every other week under Jon's guidance. But he never presented himself as the all-knowing master of literature.

"It was decentralized," he says. "We'd get together Sunday afternoon, eat a couple of bagels, then figure out what we wanted to write about. We'd pick a random subject, write for about 45 minutes, then read to each other. The one rule: We couldn't denigrate work."

As paid JCSC fellows, both Swedroe and Katz signed on for a two-year tour of duty with Hillel of Stanford. A Connecticut native, Katz accepted the post upon graduation last year from Muhlenberg College in Allentown, Penn. Swedroe grew up in Saratoga.

"I couldn't have a better first position out of college," says Katz. "The staff here is infinitely supportive, and I'm given so much trust, respect and autonomy."

Swedroe agrees, and has her own thoughts about the program's success. "It's been very fulfilling," she says. "It's very easy for Jewish arts programming to be cheesy. But it was nice to do something that students found meaningful, and nice for me to combine things I love: dance and Judaism."