The cinematographer who blew up the Death Star in the original “Star Wars” will be spending his summer in Fresno as will a Grammy-winning Latin jazz saxophonist and a Brooklyn-based dance troupe famous for addressing social and political issues.

Central Californians will be able to see their talents on display thanks to the return of CSU Summer Arts, a month-long showcase of world-class performances and lectures based at Fresno State from June 25 to July 22.

Tickets for the 2017 CSU Summer Arts Festival are now on sale at www.csusummerarts.org as well as at the Theatre Arts Box Office in the Speech Arts building.

The festival, hosted by Fresno State’s College of Arts and Humanities, is a unique arts summer school and festival of the California State University that presents master classes for more than 400 students in the visual, performing and literary and media arts which are taught by world-class artists. Each workshop culminates with a student showcase series event or performance.

Since 1985, the CSU has been offering Summer Arts to students who 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 the Summer Arts students showcase their talents in music, theatre, dance, media, creative writing and visual art and design. Summer Arts also features a guest artist performance season with more than 25 public events that include concerts, theatre productions, dance performances, lectures and readings.

Performances include:

Additional performances include an animation lecture from the creators of Nimble Collective, readings from Li-Young Lee, author of “Behind My Eyes,” and Brenda Shaughnessy, author of “Human Dark with Sugar.” Admission prices vary but the various student showcase events are free.

The festival was originally held at Fresno State from 1999 to 2011 before it moved to California State University, Monterey Bay the past five summers.

“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.”

For more information, contact Tanya Osegueda, community relations specialist, at 559.917.6992 or tosegueda@calstate.edu.