Student evaluations the best they've ever been

View a photo blog of Summer Arts

Students from throughout the California State University system and beyond came to Cal State Monterey Bay in July for the annual Summer Arts program.

CSU Summer Arts kicked off the first year of a five-year run at the Seaside campus with more than three hundred students taking the opportunity to explore and master the arts in 13 for-credit classes. Another class was offered in Florence, Italy.

Workshops were taught by experts in theater, dance, film, music, art, animation, writing and new media.

“The first year was a huge success,” said Joanne Sharp, assistant director of Summer Arts. “The student evaluations were the best they have ever been. That’s the real measure of success.”

Classes were held in two-week sessions; each ended with a “culmination,” where students demonstrated what they had learned in an event open to the public.

“We got great attendance at the culminations,” Sharp said.

The area’s summer arts scene got a lot more interesting with the addition of public performances by the visiting artists held most nights throughout the month.

Attendance at the public events picked up over the last 10 days, according to Sharp, putting it "where we expected it to be,” she said.

Next summer’s schedule is available here.

Photos – top to bottom: • Culmination performance by students in The Actors Gang workshop • A student in the TypoGraphic Design class shows off his work • Essence and Spirit of Hip-Hop was a popular class • A guitar concert was one of many public performances presented as part of Summer Arts. This one was held at the National Steinbeck Center in Salinas