CSSSA Foundation

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CSSSA Foundation

CSSSA Foundation supports the next generation of California artists.

The CSSSA Foundation supports an intensive, four-week residential arts training program for talented and motivated high school students called the Calilfornia State Summer School for the Arts. The program is held each summer on the campus of California Institute of the Arts in Valencia. Its mission is to nurture and train the next generation of artists and arts professionals in animation, creative writing, dance, film, music, theater and visual arts.

06/05/2026

Introducing CSSSA Writing Faculty member (and 2003 CSSSA Writing alum), Chelsea Sutton! 👋

Chelsea Sutton is a writer and director based in Los Angeles. She’s a PEN America Emerging Voices Fellow, a graduate of the Clarion Science Fiction and Fantasy Workshop, a Humanitas Play LA award-winner, and she co-wrote the Emmy-nominated Welcome to the Blumhouse Live, an interactive film event for Blumhouse/Amazon. Her play Wood Boy Dog Fish appeared in the inaugural season at the Garry Marshall Theatre and her play The Secret History of the Mahulley Monster (or The Cryptid Play) was a 2026 Finalist for the O’Neill National Playwrights Conference. She’s the author of the novella Krackle’s Last Movie and her short work has appeared in many journals and podcasts, including It’s Storytime with Wil Wheaton. She’s the Artistic Director of Rogue Artists Ensemble and holds an MFA in Creative Writing from UC Riverside.

06/03/2026

1999 CSSSA Theater alum Aya Cash is nominated for a Tony Award! 👏 She is nominated for Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play for her role in Giant. This was Aya's Broadway debut. Congratulations to Aya for the nomination! We'll be cheering her on when the Tony Awards take place this Sunday, June 7.

06/01/2026

Introducing CSSSA Music Faculty member, David Elsenbroich! 👋

David Elsenbroich is a multi-instrumentalist performer, arranger, and music educator living in the Los Angeles area. He graduated with a Master of Music degree in jazz guitar performance from the University of Southern California in 2010, and can be seen performing regularly throughout Southern California with various groups, including his 1940’s jazz septet who recently released their second album. David teaches Music History at Chaffey College in Rancho Cucamonga, and frequently leads early American hymnody singing workshops throughout the state. He has been music faculty at CSSSA since 2023.

05/30/2026

We're just 5 weeks away from CSSSA 2026! We can't wait to see what these talented student artists will accomplish this summer. 👏

📢 CSSSA alumni, tell our 2026 students: What's one thing you learned at CSSSA that stuck with you? Tell us about it in the comments!

05/29/2026

Introducing CSSSA Dance Faculty member, Chiharu Shibata! 👋

Chiharu Shibata has appeared in a number of San Francisco Opera productions, including Aida, Les Pêcheurs de Perles, Iphigénie en Tauride, Tannhäuser, Macbeth, La Rondine, and La Traviata, among others.

Born in Sapporo, Japan, she studied at the Kikuchi Ballet School and continued her dance training with the San Francisco Ballet School. As a long-time member of the Alonzo King LINES Ballet Company, she performed extensively in the U.S. and Europe and was choreographed directly by Alonzo King in several productions. Shibata has also worked with the Lawrence Pech Dance Company and as a principal dancer by invitation of the Joffrey Ballet of Chicago. In addition to her work with the Company, she teaches at the San Francisco Conservatory of Dance.

05/28/2026

Introducing CSSSA Animation Faculty member, Eno Swinnen! 👋

Eno is an animator and illustrator living in Los Angeles. Born in a small town in Belgium, he grew up watching both US-centric cartoons alongside stranger European shorts, which led him to earn his MFA in animation at the School of Arts in Ghent in 2012.

Using a rhythmic style of traditional pencil rotoscoping, he spent the next 4 years directing and animating music videos for a range of clients, both big and small. He spent the rest of his time in Belgium at the production company Animal Tank, where he did just about everything—from cleanup and animation to supervising, editing, and fully animating and directing his own short. His short premiered at the International Film Festival of Rotterdam.

In 2024 he moved to Los Angeles to live with his wife, where he spends pretty much every day drawing. While he’s done work for bigger clients like Interscope, Domino, and Edglrd, he’s most proud of the collaborative work he’s done with other independent artists worldwide, and the short film E6-D7 he made in between those collaborations.

05/27/2026

Faculty highlight! ✨ Shorter Than a Tunnel, Longer Than a Bridge is an upcoming movement performance created by CSSSA Dance Faculty Sam Wentz in collaboration with Amelia Charter. This evening-length production explores movement, object practice, and sound.

📢 Los Angeles-based Dance alumni: Support Sam by seeing Shorter Than a Tunnel, Longer Than a Bridge at Human Resources May 29–31!

Learn more and get your tickets: https://www.h-r.la/event/shorter-than-a-tunnel-longer-than-a-bridge/

05/22/2026

Two CSSSA Visual Arts Faculty, Chris Velasco and Dakota Noot, recently participated in the Los Angeles Road Concerts! This unique event brought 40+ site-specific artworks, performances, interventions, participatory projects, music, and happenings to a four-mile stretch of York Boulevard in Los Angeles.

Chris Velasco reprised a photo series/performance piece called Juan Valdez, the Tourist. Shot on both film and digital, this photography series captured Los Angeles, from its iconic landmarks to hidden corners most tourists overlook.

Dakota Noot set up an installation of his animal-human hybrid drawings. His work often explores the rural yet fantastical, q***r identities.

We're always thrilled to see our faculty flexing their artistic muscles around our community! 👏

05/20/2026

Introducing CSSSA's fabulous and creative Department Chairs! 👏

🌟 Kati Angelov, Animation Department Chair
🌟 Rohan Guyot-Sutherland, Architecture and Environmental Design Department Chair
🌟 Gregory Dawson, Dance Department Chair
🌟 Pietro Pinto, Film Department Chair
🌟 Valerie Stern, Music Department Chair
🌟 Jeremy Guskin, Theater Department Chair
🌟 Shari Bond, Visual Arts Department Chair
🌟 Zay Amsbury, Writing Department Chair

Learn more about the department chairs on CSSSA's website: https://www.csssa.ca.gov/

05/16/2026

CSSSA 2026 kicks off in just 7 weeks! We're so excited for another summer of creativity and connection.

📢 CSSSA alumni, tell our 2026 students: What's one thing you wish you knew before you came to CSSSA? Share your answer in the comments!

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Los Angeles, CA

Telephone

+12134689905

Website

http://www.csssaf.org/

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