The West Virginia University College of Creative Arts has been selected to host the West Virginia Governors School for the Arts at the CreativeArtsCenter during the summers of 2003 and 2004.

The three-week residential program is for exceptional arts students who have completed their sophomore year of high school.

“We are extremely pleased to be hosting the Governors School for the Arts over the next two years,”said College of Creative Arts Dean Bernie Schultz.”Our goal is to provide a program and environment for young West Virginia artists that will explore traditional practices and new technologies and promote a better understanding and appreciation of the visual and performing arts across cultures.”

While in residency at the CAC , the students will study in the states only educational facility solely dedicated to the instruction and performance of all of the visual and performing arts.

Classes will include ceramics, printmaking, electronic media, studio arts, instrumental music, voice, world music, jazz, music theory and history, theatre arts, acting and performance, theatre history, dramatic literature and criticism, scenic costume and lighting design, computer-assisted design for the stage and dance.

An interdisciplinary faculty of artists and educators will work with the students, providing both individual and in-depth group instruction.

The students also will work with recognized guest artists and specialists and will take part in field trips and special events. At the end of the school, they will present a special collaborative performance highlighting all of the disciplines and showcasing their abilities.

The Governors School for the Arts is part of the West Virginia Governors HonorsAcademy. The mission of the Academy is to operate an academically rich environment designed to honor high-ability and high-achieving students in an institution of higher education, challenging them to grow intellectually and creatively in a culturally diverse atmosphere.

WVU College of Creative Arts Associate Dean William Winsor is the artistic director of the 2003-04 Governors School for the Arts and Cindy Conner-Bess, a faculty member of the Division of Music, is associate artistic director. Keith Garbutt, director of the WVU Honors Program, is director of student life.

“The Governors School for the Arts assures that its participants receive both an intensive artistic and social experience,”Winsor said.”WVU proposes a specialized program that will realize these goals within the context of exploring the arts in a global community.”

In addition to providing practical instruction and experience, Winsor said, the curriculum objectives include helping students understand the nature of creativity and the role technology plays in the arts, as well as encouraging them to develop a personal understanding of the relationship between critical theory and artistic practice and the changing social role of artists and scholars in the arts.

The Governors School for the Arts is open to students who attend school in West Virginia, exhibit a strong commitment to their personal development as artists, score near the top on a national achievement test and rank in the top half of their class academically. All students who apply must complete an audition or portfolio review.

There is no cost to students or their families for tuition, room, meals, activities, books or instructional materials. They pay only for travel and personal expenses.

For more information about the Governors School for the Arts, visit the Web site atwww.wvgovschools.org.