ARTISTS IN THE MAKING PROGRAM CULTIVATES CREATIVITY.

Byline: Naush Boghossian Staff Writer

SANTA CLARITA - More than 500 talented high school students have moved into California Institute of the Arts dormitories and are using the school's facilities for an intensive program that will allow them to advance their artistic skills.

Through the California State Summer School for the Arts InnerSpark program - a highly competitive program that accepts 37 percent of its applicants - students get instruction in animation, creative writing, dance, film and video, music, theater and the visual arts for four weeks.

``We're looking for potential of development as a professional artist,'' said Robert Jaffe, the program's director, explaining that students were selected after a committee reviewed samples of their work. ``They have the talent and motivation to pursue further study or possible careers in the arts.''

The young students, fresh from orientation Sunday, are looking at the next four weeks as an opportunity to learn.

``You are able to experience and grow and it's the greatest opportunity as an artist you can get,'' said 16-year-old dance major Anthony Gardea.

``I want my mind to expand. It's a great experience to learn so much, to have this chance,'' said film major Raquel Cedar, 14 and a ninth-grader. ``I want to learn everything I can. I want to cram it in.''

For these gifted kids who normally do not have the opportunity to interact with others their age who are just as passionate about the arts, meeting the fellow program attendees has been an amazing experience.

``I was kind of intimidated, because it's competitive, obviously,'' said Cedar. ``But it's great to know all these people just like you. You can have these ongoing conversations about one thing.''

Her sister, Jacqueline Cedar, who was also accepted into the program as a painting major and photography minor, was excited to have studio space to practice her painting and the opportunity to talk to other artists.

``I'm hoping we'll get to explore the mediums we've chosen to study, and to learn new things,'' Jacqueline Cedar said. ``I'm hoping it will introduce me to a lot of things I've never seen before.''

Like the studios for the art students, the other students also get the opportunity to practice their art in professional facilities.

``When I walked into the editing room,'' exclaimed Raquel Cedar, ``I thought, Oh, I'm in heaven!''

For these talented students, their art is something that they have grown up practicing.

Jacqueline Cedar remembers always painting and taking photographs, but in middle school she began to get serious about art.

``I would go to the museum with my sketchbook and draw,'' she said.

Raquel Cedar always carried a video camera with her. She has filmed those closest to her, and her next documentary follows her friends when they go out at night.

Dancing has been a passion for Gardea since he was 11, and now he dances pretty much any form of dance imaginable. He dances ballet, jazz, tap, modern, hop-hop and African among other forms and he thinks he would eventually like to become a dance teacher.

And these artists who are studying different mediums, agree on one thing: They plan to milk this program for all it's worth.

``I really want to learn everything I can and go back and teach my fellow students,'' said dance major Gardea who attends San Pedro High School. ``The more good dancers we have at public schools, the stronger the program is, and the less likely they are to make budget cuts.''

Jaffe said that one of the things that sets this program apart from other arts programs is that financially disadvantaged students can attend. About 46 percent of the students this summer qualified for financial aid.

``This program is for any kid with aspirations in arts,'' Jaffe said, not just for those whose families can pay for the enriched and accelerated program. ``Normally, arts and sports programs are closed to those kids.''

``It gives real hope to these kids that despite the circumstances they come from, with determination and talent, they can make something of themselves,'' said Marty Muller, executive vice president and creative director of The Cimarron Group, which created and donated the marketing materials for the program. The program was established by the California State Legislature in 1985 as a state agency funded through a public and private partnership.

Famous alumni of the program include actor James Franco, who received the Golden Globe as best actor for his starring role in TNT's ``James Dean: An Invented Life,'' and visual artist Craig McCracken who created ``The Powerpuff Girls'' cartoon.

``These are the next wave of talent we want to bring to the entertainment industry,'' Muller said, explaining that the program will also open doors to students for internships at established entertainment companies. ``These are kids who are in their middle to high school years who are being encouraged to explore aspects of entertainment that are going to help impact our creative pool.''

CAPTION(S):

photo

Photo:

(color) Sisters Raquel left, and Jacqueline Cedar and Anthony Gardea are attending the California State Summer School for the Arts InnerSpark program at CalArts. The program, which began Sunday, runs for four weeks.

Tom Mendoza/Staff Photographer