July 23, 2009

Student presentations Thursday and Friday, July 26-27 will conclude the ninth straight California State University Summer Arts program at California State University, Fresno.

The presentations, known also as culminations, are free to the public and give students who have participated in the two-week master workshops in the visual and performing arts the opportunity to show off their talents and what they’ve learned.

This year, more than 400 students of varied abilities from throughout California enrolled in the program. Each course gives students intensive sessions with acclaimed artists. The community benefits from performances, lectures, exhibits and presentations by the artists that precede the student presentations that conclude each course.

The culminations begin at 7 p.m. Thursday in the Arena Theatre when Solo Performance students will perform theater pieces about their cultural identity and family history. The pieces were created during their workshop taught by acclaimed solo artists Paula Weston Solano, Thembi Ngwabi and Donald Bemrose.

Following the culmination, Shishir Kurup, a guest artist in the Solo Performance class, will perform a short  solo piece, “Sharif Don’t Like It,” about homeland security, self-identification and alienation of minority communities by the Patriot Act.  Kurup, a native of India, is a writer/director/performer/musician and member of Cornerstone Theater Company in Los Angeles.

A second Solo Performance culmination is scheduled at 8:30 p.m. Friday, concluding this year’s CSU Summer Arts. Also on the culmination schedule Friday are:

• Creative Writing: 1 p.m. Conley Lecture Hall (Phebe Conley Art Building); students will read from scripts adapted for film, television and theater using multiple sources such as novels, short stories and other literary forms.

• Painting and Drawing and Photography: 2 p.m. Conley Gallery (Conley Art Building); art students will exhibit oil and charcoal works inspired by the Florentine Renaissance and photography students will exhibit their travel photography.

• Music Technology: 3:30 p.m. Conley Lecture Hall; performance of student-composed music for trailers, television show scenes, interactive video game segments, and cues for feature films.

• Animation: 7 p.m. Wahlberg Recital Hall (Music Building); students will present animated shorts created during the two-week residency of the workshop.