Fresno State will reprise its role as host campus for CSU Summer Arts, starting in summer 2017 and continuing through 2021.
Summer Arts is currently hosted at California State University, Monterey Bay, where the program has been housed since 2012. Fresno State hosted the program from 1999 to 2011.
Since 1985, the CSU has been offering Summer Arts to students systemwide. Students are provided on-campus housing as they work side-by-side with arts professionals for two to four weeks during the summer. At the end of the course, local communities surrounding the campus are invited to a public arts festival, where Summer Arts students proudly showcase their talents in music, theatre, dance, media, creative writing and visual art and design.
“The arts are thriving at Fresno State and throughout the Central Valley,” said Fresno State President Joseph I. Castro. “The return of the Summer Arts Program is part of our bold strategy to further enhance the vibrancy of the arts at Fresno State and in our region.”
CSU officials said the move to Fresno State will provide opportunities for the campus to gain support from Fresno County and the greater Central Valley. With chamber music halls, a professional-quality theatre and a costume shop, Fresno State’s facilities are well-equipped to support Summer Arts’ highly intensive program.
“Summer Arts will bring the best of the world to the Valley, and the programming will enrich our thriving arts and unite us as a community in celebrating our diversity, creativity and shared humanity,” said Saúl Jiménez-Sandoval, dean of the College of Arts and Humanities at Fresno State, which will coordinate the program.
CSU Summer Arts 2016 is currently accepting applications through June 24. The program will run from June 27 to Aug. 3 at CSU Monterey Bay. For more information, visit http://blogs.calstate.edu/summerarts.
