CSU Summer Arts helps students hone skills and develop contacts

Sacramento, California - Sacramento State students and other college students interested in furthering their artistic growth by immersing themselves in the arts are invited to attend the California State University Summer Arts program in July at CSU Monterey Bay.

During a pair of two-week sessions, students will get to work with professionals in their respective arts fields, develop contacts that could aid their careers, and meet other student artists. Public performance and exhibition opportunities also are provided.

Application deadlines are looming for the sessions, which run July 1-14 and July 15-28. Scholarships are available for most of the students, and all courses carry three units of transferable credit.

The sessions cover all facets of the arts. Professionals from DreamWorks will spend two weeks with students, animating a portfolio-quality CG piece; three landscape and travel photographers will teach a course exploring the uses of light; and top writers will guide students on writing for film, television and theater.

Sacramento State’s own Professor Kim Zarins, a published author of children’s books, will coordinate the class titled Writing Fantasy for Children and Teens, taught by professionals in writing and publishing. Zarins says she has had a number of students tell her they were writing fantasy novels. “I’m thrilled they are sharing their work and seeking an outlet,” she says. “This dream class was designed with those students in mind.”

Other Summer Arts courses include:

·           Contemporary Painting: Expanding Your Practice

·           American Classical Guitar

·           Stage Combat: Rapier and Dagger

·           (Dance) Dynamic Partnering: The Collaborative Creative Process

Sacramento State Theatre & Dance Professor Lorelei Bayne has coordinated three summer sessions in the past. She says the experience always enhances an artist’s career in a variety of ways. “Sacramento State students performed with the Joe Goode Performance Group in San Francisco, the Nicholas Leichter Dance Company in New York, and have made lasting connections with Diavolo Dance Theatre in L.A. as a direct result of these workshops at Summer Arts,” Bayne says.

The deadlines for applying are Friday, May 3, for the first session and Friday, May 17, for the second session. More than 70 percent of participating students receive scholarships. On-campus housing and meal plans also are available.

“We are incredibly proud of the transformation students undergo and the work they produce during their residence with us,” says CSU Summer Arts Business Manager Laura Schultz.

For more information and application forms, visit www.csusummerarts.org or call (562) 951-4060. For media assistance, call Sacramento State’s Public Affairs office at (916) 278-6156.