[FAC] Cal State Summer School for the Arts (InnerSpark) - Affordable Arts Program for Teens - Deadline is Sat. 2/28

[Maria Franco]

Contacts:  JDI Communications, Inc. Rivian Bell, (213) 612-4927, (888)
477-4319 (24/7), rbell at jdipr.com, Paula Valle, (213) 612-4927,
pvalle at jdipr.com <mailto:lbernfeld at jdipr.com> 

 

Amid School Budget Shortfalls and Arts Program Cuts, 

California State Summer School for the Arts (InnerSpark)

Continues to Provide Training to Teen Artists, Writers and Performers 

Summer 2009 Applications Now Being Taken, Due Sat., Feb. 28

 

Sacramento, Calif - Jan. 23, 2009 - Despite slashes in school arts programs,
there is one resource in California for outstandingly talented high school
students who have financial need. The California State Summer School for the
Arts (InnerSpark) is now welcoming applications for 520 motivated high
school-aged visual, literary, media and performing artists for its 23rd
session in July 2009. The selected students will have the unique opportunity
to spend four weeks studying and working with professional artists, writers
and performers of national stature.  One of the unique features of the
school is its ability to provide financial aid to its students. According to
Robert M. Jaffe, InnerSpark director, "InnerSpark is committed to providing
quality artistic training amidst the decrease in statewide art programs. No
student who has the drive and talent to succeed in the application process
will be denied admission, solely on the basis of inability to pay. On
average, 40 percent of our students receive financial aid; some are asked to
pay as little as $100. We expect to equal or surpass that record in 2009."


 

California State Summer School Arts Foundation (CSSSAF), a non-profit
organization created to support InnerSpark in achieving its mission via a
unique public and private sector partnership, has awarded nearly $4 million
in scholarships since 1987 to more than 39 percent of the highly talented
students who have attended InnerSpark.   To date, InnerSpark has provided
its esteemed summer arts program to 10,508 talented high school students.
Instruction is offered in the fields of Animation, Film/Video, Creative
Writing, Dance, Music, Theater, and the Visual Arts. The talented teenagers
who successfully complete the program receive three units of California
State University course credit. Selected teenagers are designated California
Arts Scholars, receive the Governor's Arts Scholar Medallion, and attend one
of the country's premier summer arts institutes on the campus of the
California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) in Valencia, this year from July
11 - Aug. 7, 2009.

 

California students, whose families have the means to pay, are charged a
comprehensive fee of $1,415 to cover room, board and tuition for the
four-week 2009 summer session. Students from outside of California must pay
a comprehensive fee of $4,600. Applications to InnerSpark are due by Feb.
28, 2009, for the summer 2009 program.

InnerSpark is also able to help its students with college aid through the
distribution of Herb Alpert Scholarships for Emerging Young Artists. An
agreement between InnerSpark and the Herb Alpert Foundation, which has
committed $1.2 million in funds for this project, means that 18 students
each year are designated Scholarship recipients. The scholarships are
awarded every summer to three students in each of six categories: Animation
and Film/Video, Creative Writing, Dance, Music, Theater, and the Visual
Arts. In 2009 in each category, one outstanding student will receive $40,000
to be awarded over the course of four years, and two students will receive
single-year awards of $2,500.   "InnerSpark is an incredible opportunity for
talented young people," said Jaffe. "The value of our program will not only
affect these motivated students well into their college years, but into
their professional lives as well."  Those wishing to learn more about
InnerSpark or obtain application forms and instructions should visit
<http://www.csssa.org/> www.innerspark.us on the web, or call the Sacramento
headquarters at (916) 274-5815. 

 

About California State Summer School for the Arts

Since 1987, the California State Summer School for the Arts, known
colloquially as InnerSpark, has offered instruction in the fields of
animation, music, dance, film and video, theatre, creative writing and the
visual arts. More than 10,000 young Californians have attended since the
program's inception. For many, it was the first step to important and
successful careers in the arts and related industries.

 

Alumni of the program include actor and Golden Globe recipient James Franco,
featured in the Spiderman movies and the films Annapolis, Pineapple Express,
and Milk; Craig McCracken, the Emmy Award-winning animator and creator of
The Powerpuff Girls; creative writer Dakila Davina, now managing editor of
Parade Magazine; dancer Sharon Grimsley Teague, principal soloist for the
Houston Ballet; award-winning fashion designer Sophie Buhai; 2006 American
Idol runner-up Katharine McPhee and actress Kirsten Vangsness, seen as
Penelope Garcia on the CBS series Criminal Minds.

 

About California State Summer School Arts Foundation

The California State Summer School Arts Foundation (CSSSAF) as mandated in
the enabling legislation, was created in 1987 as a non-profit 501(c)(3)
organization to be the private sector partner supporting InnerSpark to help
achieve its mission by seeking corporate, foundation and individual
contributions. This is a unique public and private partnership in
California. At the cornerstone of the Foundation's role is the CSSSA
Scholarship Fund, to ensure that no talented student is denied admission to
InnerSpark because of an inability to pay tuition and fees. CSSSAF has
awarded nearly $4 million in scholarships to more than 39 percent of the
highly talented students who have attended InnerSpark. 

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