GETTING A LEG UP ON THE ARTS; SOME PUPILS HOPE TO JUMP-START CAREERS IN CALARTS SUMMER CLASSES.

Byline: Stacy Brown Daily News Staff Writer

When the final bell sounds at the end of the school year, most students head for vacation hotspots, summer jobs and other activities. Then there are those who sign up for the California State Summer School for the Arts program.

Held at the California Institute of the Arts in Valencia, the program is a rigorous pre-professional training program in the visual and performing arts, creative writing, animation and film for talented artists of high school age.

Tia Dixione, a 14-year-old from Valencia High School who is enrolled in the dance program, said she signed up and paid the $1,250 tuition because she wanted to be discovered.

``My mom said, `You are going to the dance class at CalArts, and I thought it was great,'' she said.

Discovery is always possible in the program as entertainment biggies such as Motown's Suzanne DePasse lectured at the school Monday and Puff Johnson, a CSSSA alumna and Sony Music recording artist, talked with students aspiring to make it big.

Dixione's classmate Aubrey O'Day, a 13-year-old Palm Desert resident, spelled out her hopes for the future. ``Broadway, I'm gonna play Broadway one day, this is great, so is our instructor,'' she said.

Gail Chodera, who has been a modern dance instructor for 20 years, said teaching high school students is a blast.

``It's an incredible opportunity for them,'' Chodera said. ``They spend four weeks learning from faculty members who are professionals themselves. I wish this was available to me when I was in high school.''

The enthusiasm can be seen on the faces of Chodera's students: 17-year-old Sara Lesin of Los Angeles who said she loves to dance; and Desiree Green of San Diego and Sophia Carter of Lake Tahoe, both 16, Broadway on their minds.

Joe Alameda, deputy director of the summer program, said just 485 students are accepted out of more than 1,400 applicants. He said students earn three college elective credits and additionally are given some of the best experiences of their young lives.

Alameda said the students are offered financial aid and the funding comes from a state grant and private donations. More than 100 faculty members are on staff for the program as well.

Mark Eanes, who has been teaching the visual arts class for the program for seven years, said high school students are treated no differently than their collegiate peers.

``It's so important for the students to put in all the work they can because art is always the first thing to go whenever schools face budget crunches,'' Eanes said.

In Eanes' classes, students study figure drawing, design, painting, computer graphics, printmaking, sculpture, ceramics and photography.

Lectures on topics that are of importance to visual artists are given by guest artists and others who may drop in from time to time.

``Many of the kids go on to have great careers in the arts even though it's a rare thing to be successful in this business,'' Eanes said.

Some of those kids included Johnson, who recorded the theme song to the hit movie ``The First Wives Club''; Elaina Davis, who appeared in the independent feature film ``Heart2Heart.Com'' and appears along with Jodi Foster in the film ``Contact''; and Lisa Rosanna Meyer, who has begun studies at Stanford University's Medical School.

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3 Photos

Photo: (1--ran in SAC edition only--color) Students enrolled in a summertime life drawing class at the California Institute of the Arts in Valencia work on a figure.

(2--ran in SAC only--color) The California State Summer School for the Arts program offers a range of courses.

(3--ran in SAC only--color) Student Sophia Carter, 16, of Lake Tahoe performs a move for instructor Gail Chodera in a modern dance class.

Terri Thuente/Daily News